Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo SAN has faulted comments by Bishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, about the forthcoming inauguration of President-elect Bola Tinubu.
Tinubu is scheduled to be inaugurated as President-elect on May 29, although his victory in the February 25 presidential election is being challenged by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP), among others.
Speaking on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme on Thursday, Onaiyekan said it does not make sense to be swearing in people when there are issues to be settled in court.
The comment has drawn knocks from many All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwarts, including Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.
Joining the fray, Keyamo said Onaiyekan is a respected religious leader whose recent political comments ” are becoming unstatesmanlike”.
“A statesman who doubles as a Man of God should strive to be fair to all. You didn’t say the same thing when Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and Buhari were all sworn in as Presidents when their cases were still before the courts,” Keyamo said.
The minister said that Onaiyekan chose to single out Tinubu this time around because “the candidate you and your other religious brethren openly supported lost the election and you all feel humiliated and embarrassed”.
He said all issues raised against Tinubu’s victory in court now were not different from issues raised against previous Presidents-elect, noting that the complaints have always been that the declared victor did not win the election fair and square or was not qualified to contest the election.
According to Keyamo, no disqualifying issue against a candidate can be greater than other disqualifying issues since a single issue can decide a case against a President-elect.
“So, why all the fuse now? It has always been our electoral template since 1999 for the declared winners to be sworn into office in order TO AVOID A VACUUM and not to foist an unconstitutional contraption on the system whilst the cases are in court.
“My dear daddy, may I respectfully advise that going forward, you and your brethren may consider stepping back from the deep and murky waters of politics and desist from descending into the arena of political conflicts where your children in your congregations find themselves on different sides of political divides, so it would be unfair to them for you to openly take sides. The embarrassment to the Body of Christ is getting too much and no politician is worth dragging this dignified body into unnecessary political controversy,” Keyamo said.