Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, has clarified that his recent response to Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, was not intended to disrespect the Catholic cleric or the church.
The presidential aide made the clarification during an interview on Arise TV on Thursday, days after criticising Onaiyekan over his public account of a closed-door meeting between President Tinubu and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN). Onaiyekan had discussed the meeting during an Arise TV interview, recounting exchanges between the President and bishops over the Nigerian economy and other concerns raised by the delegation.
The bishops, led by CBCN President Matthew Ndagoso, had met with Tinubu to discuss insecurity, tertiary education, the state of democracy, credible elections and poverty. Ajayi had earlier described Onaiyekan’s decision to publicly discuss details of the private meeting as “an abuse of clerical privilege.” However, speaking again on Thursday, he said the matter had been resolved and stressed that he did not intend to disparage the respected cleric.
“Well, I think that episode has been closed. Cardinal Onaiyekan is a respected clergy and a statement in his own right,” Ajayi said.
The presidential aide said his earlier comments were intended to provide a different interpretation of the cardinal’s account rather than challenge his position within the Catholic Church or wider society.
“My response to him did not in any way disrespect him or disrespect his standing in the society and the church. He’s one of the leaders of the faith,” Ajayi said.
Ajayi explained that his intervention was focused on offering another perspective concerning the meeting between the President and the bishops. He maintained that his comments should not be interpreted as an attack on Onaiyekan’s status or authority.
“I only tried to provide a different perspective from his own account of the bishop’s encounter with the president, and I think that point has been made,” he said. The clarification effectively signals an effort to draw a line under the disagreement, which followed public discussion of the private engagement between the President and Catholic bishops.
The Ajayi Onaiyekan response controversy had generated attention because it involved a senior presidential aide and a prominent Catholic cleric, following discussions on issues including insecurity, poverty and governance. Ajayi said he did not intend to prolong the exchange and indicated that the matter should no longer occupy public attention.
“And I think it’s not not something we really want to dwell further on,” he said.
His latest comments therefore place emphasis on closing the disagreement while maintaining that his original intervention was intended as a clarification of the account of the presidential meeting rather than disrespect towards Cardinal Onaiyekan or the Catholic Church.
