‘You don’t speak like a man of God’ – Presidency hits back at Kukah

The presidency has fired back at the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, for describing Nigeria as a killing field under the Muhammadu Buhari government.

Kukah, in his Easter message on Sunday, said both the government and the citizens have become helpless as criminals continue to cause havoc in parts of the country.

The respected clergyman added that many citizens are frustrated over the security situation as they wonder if the government has gone AWOL (absent without official leave).

Reacting to Kukah’s message, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the cleric did not speak like a man of God.

Shehu asked him to visit the North-East and ask residents if there is any improvement in security.

He said the bishop played politics in some of his submissions in the Easter message.

The statement read, “All citizens have their ideologies, even their versions of the truth. But if you profess to be a man of God, as Father Mathew Hassan Kukah does, ideology should not stand in the way of facts and fairness.

“Father Kukah has said some things that are inexplicable in his Easter message. But, in saying that the Boko Haram terrorism is worse than it was in 2015, he did not speak like a man of God. Kukah should go to Borno or Adamawa to ask the citizens there the difference between 2014 and 2021.

“Furthermore, the Hijab issue in Kwara State on which he dwelt is a state matter which the courts of the land have adjudicated. They are matters that have appeared in several states as far back as the Obasanjo administration. In all of that, when and where did the name of President Buhari feature?

“He is playing partisan politics by dragging the President into it. For the first time in the country’s history, an administration that has created a whole ministry, appropriating enormous resources to it, to deal with issues of internally displaced persons cannot, in all rightfulness, be accused of not caring for them.

“Some of the comments are no more than a sample of the unrestrained rhetoric Fr. Kukah trades in, which he often does in the guise of a sermon. We urge well-meaning citizens to continue to support the ongoing efforts by the administration to secure the country and move it forward.”