Furore Over Kukah’s Christmas Message; APC Calls The Bishop Ungodly; PDP Applauds Him

By Akinwale Kasali

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, are at each other’s throat over the Christmas Message delivered by the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, His Lordship, Mathew Kukah.

Kukah had, in the strongly-worded message, accused President Muhammadu Buhari of nepotism, and submitted that the President would leave a worse Nigeria when he leaves office in 2023, than he inherited in 2015.

Except in the provision of infrastructure, especially roads, where Kukah admitted that the Buhari Government has made appreciable efforts, the Bishop scored it zero in other fronts especially security, corruption and health.

Kukah to Buhari: “It is sad that despite your lofty promises, you are leaving us far more vulnerable than when you came, that the corruption we thought would be fought has become a leviathan and sadly, a consequence of a Government marked by nepotism.”

Both the APC and the PDP are on different pages, and are bickering over Kukah’s message.

While the PDP is  on the same page with the Clergyman and stressed that the Nation has been in a state of comatose with insecurity, economic downturn being the order of the day, the APC said Kukah speaks in an ungodly manner.

The PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, in a statement said:

“What Bishop Kukah said is what our Spiritual Leaders should be doing. What the man of God said is not different from what we have been saying in the past seven and a half years.

“Nigerians are in sorrow because the Government they elected twice has failed. The Government of the day has no clue on how to tackle governance challenges. As a result, there is hunger, frustration and lack in the land.

“In 2015, a bag of rice was N7,000. Today, it is about N50, 000. That staple food affordable to every Nigerian is no longer on their table even at Christmas.  Security has collapsed, contrary to the promise by the President Buhari that he would lead from the front.

“We agree with the revered Bishop that Nigerians should pause and reflect as they head to the polling units to cast their votes. The pains APC brought to bear on our people must be addressed by a leader who has seen it all. This is our message to Nigerians”.

But the APC disagrees with both Bishop Kukah and the PDP.

In a statement, the Party’s Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, said, “I hold him (Kukah) in high esteem and respect him because he is a senior brother to a friend.

“Secondly, he is a man of God. But I am sorry to say that sometimes his speeches are ungodly. Ungodly in the sense that he does not seem to be objective at times.

“If you are going to be objective or speak with fairness, you cannot but give credit to Buhari for the way and manner he handles this country.

“When we talk about healthcare, if Kukah is insinuating that Buhari has used public office or his position to access better healthcare, I think he has not been fair to him. All the medical attention the President has been getting has been abroad and at no cost to the Government. He has been seeing the same set of doctors in the last 40 years. This is not a new hospital he visits. It is the same facility and doctors he uses for years in London long before he became the Military Head of State.

“Buhari has not taken advantage of Nigerian healthcare to the betterment of his own health. Kukah himself knows that very well because we have discussed it in the past.

“Also, when he said there were a number of students or children still in the forest, I don’t know if he’s talking about the Chibok girls or the ones that were taken recently? If you look at the ones taken under the Government of President Muhammadu Buhari, look at the speed and efforts made to recover them within a short period of time. I think we must give kudos to the president.

“In the time when Chibok girls were taken, the Government even refused to admit they were taken. That was how the lexicon ‘There is God’ came into our dictionary. They did not even admit that such a thing happened let alone acted to set them free. But this Government came and within a short period sprang into action and some of these children were released even if it was in piecemeal. At least, we are still getting them.

“All the passengers on the Kaduna-Abuja train who were abducted had been freed without casualties. If you look at the speed and the rate of bombardment by the Air Force, you will agree with me that they are hitting these people hard so much that many of them are surrendering and giving up.

“You will not say this Government is not doing well at securing and getting people freed from captivity. Gone are the days when Boko Haram attacked in a ruthless manner that they used to do, you don’t get to see that anymore because they have been decimated and no longer have the capacity for any spectacular attack anymore.

“So when a man of God speaks in an ungodly manner, I tend to feel uncomfortable. As I said earlier, he is not a man I will want to join issue with. I still respect him as a senior brother and hold him in high esteem. But I will want him every time he talks to do so in consultation with his conscience.”