The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) says accusations of nepotism levelled by popular Catholic bishop, Matthew Kukah against the Muhammadu Buhari presidency are “unfounded, false, unreasonable and evil”.
The pro-Buhari group also railed against Kukah, who is the Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, for allegedly subtly calling for a coup in the country in his Christmas Day message to Nigerians.
Kukah said only a Northern Muslim President like Muhammadu Buhari could have got away with the level of nepotism in the present administration.
He accused President Buhari of “reducing others in public life to second-class status” as a way of institutionalising northern hegemony.
“This government owes the nation an explanation as to where it is headed as we seem to journey into darkness.
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“The spilling of this blood must be related to a more sinister plot that is beyond our comprehension. Are we going to remain hogtied by these evil men or are they gradually becoming part of a larger plot to seal the fate of our country?
“President Buhari deliberately sacrificed the dreams of those who voted for him to what seemed like a programme to stratify and institutionalise northern hegemony. He has pursued this self-defeating and alienating policy at the expense of greater national cohesion.
“Every honest Nigerian knows that there is no way any non-Northern Muslim President could have done a fraction of what President Buhari has done by his nepotism and gotten away with it.
“There would have been a military coup a long time ago or we would have been at war. The President may have concluded that Christians will do nothing and will live with these actions.
“He may be right and we Christians cannot feel sorry that we have no pool of violence to draw from or threaten our country. However, God does not sleep. We can see from the inexplicable dilemma of his North,” Kukah said.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO noted that this was not the first time the Catholic Bishop had used the pulpit to sow division, discord and fuel an agenda of anarchy.
“We condemn the remarks of Bishop Kukah where he made claims that the President was creating a Northern hegemony and that such could have been reason for a coup.
“These comments are false, unreasonable and evil. They are anti-Nigeria and have no place in the kind of conversations Nigerians deserve to hear at a time that all are longing for peace and love.
“Time after time, the President Buhari administration has responded with clear facts, numbers and statistics on this allegation of nepotism, showing that in fact, the South-West has the most appointees in the government, while the South has more appointees than the North.
“Yet, no one has produced evidence to the contrary.
“Bishop Matthew Kukah has fallen far below the mark expected of godly leaders, again”, the statement said.
“He has used the pulpit where the messages of peace, of joy, of solidarity, of unity and love should be heard to rather preach messages of discord, disunity, anarchy, fear and worse, to tell blatant lies against the President.
“A man who prides himself as a Bishop of the Church should not be the kind of person that these untruths should be heard from.”
The BMO stated that the sermon delivered by Bishop Kukah on Christmas Day was a contrast against the spirit and message of the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
“Bishop Kukah’s Christmas sermon is a contrast against what Christ’s birth and his life on earth symbolise, and continue to be the subject of sermons across the world. They are like light and darkness, they have no meeting point. Christ came to exemplify, teach and show us forgiveness, love, peace and fellowship; Bishop Kukah, who claims to be a servant of Christ preaches hate, anger, violence and disunity.
“This irony is made worse by the very fact that Bishop Kukah is a member of Nigeria’s National Peace Committee. But he constantly continues to be the reference point for trouble and warmongering. We have previously called for him to be sacked from that role as he does not fit in, at all.
“His partisanship and hate for President Buhari has put him in a position of blindness where he can no longer work for or achieve peace.
“It is not surprising that he chose Christmas Day, to deliver an anti-Christian Sermon.”
The group stated that it remained confident in Nigeria’s Armed Forces not to be moved or take any notice of the sermon delivered by Bishop Kukah.
“The Nigerian Armed Forces under President Buhari are not thugs and will not do anything against the Constitution of Nigeria. They are well-trained and are in tune with the President’s agenda for the nation: to tackle insecurity, to fight corruption and to rejuvenate and build a resilient economy for the country. We are sure that, this will be the case even when President Buhari leaves office, at the expiration of his tenure”, the statement added.