Deji Elumoye in Abuja
The Presidency last night faulted the submission of The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Father Matthew Kukah over the security situation in the country and the hijab crisis in Kwara State.
In a statement by the Media Assistant to the President, Garba Shehu, the Presidency emphasised that Kukah’s vituperation during this Easter festive period is very ungodly.
The statement stated that Kukah was playing politics with the homily he delivered during the Easter Sunday service stressing that the President Muhammadu Buhari should not be dragged into his politics.
Garba traced the security challenges facing the nation to the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo saying there was no basis to blame the Buhari’s administration which is less than six years in office.
“All citizens have their individual ideologies, even their own versions of truth. But if you profess to being 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 massage.
“But, in saying that the Boko Haram terrorism is worse than it was in 2015, he did not speak like a man of God,” the statement explained.
The Presidency urged Kukah to go to Borno or Adamawa to ask the citizens the difference between 2014 and 2021.
The Presidency added that the Hijab issue in Kwara State on which Kukah dwelt was a state matter which the courts of the land had adjudicated.
According to the statement, 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.
“An administration that has created a whole Ministry, for the first time in the country’s history, 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 homily,” the statement added.
It urged the well-meaning citizens to continue to support the ongoing efforts by the administration to secure the country and move it forward.
