The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Father Mathew Kukah, said he was shocked to hear what former President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministers were saying about him and his government.
Kukah stated this in an interview on Arise Television on Wednesday.
He said he has no personal grudge against the former president.
There was nothing I said about President Buhari that was personal, that was disrespectful, I just felt he was doing things, that is, especially in the area of managing our diversity and look;
“I’m talking to ministers now who served in that government; I cannot call names. I am shocked to hear the kind of things people are saying about those who served in that government; that is for another day,” he said.
According to him, the only problem he had with Buhari was his inability to manage the country’s diversity.
Kukah was one of the fiercest critics of former President Buhari and his administration.
The bishop claimed that the former president had made Nigeria more vulnerable and succeeded in splitting the country.
He said, “Buhari has served his term. He also knew, and I respect him for that, that there was nothing I was saying that was personal. I imagined poor Adesina (Femi) and his team had a job to do and they needed to do that job even though there was nothing to say.
“I will respect and I hope that Pastor Adesina knows that there is a Foursquare Gospel Church in Daura, I believe that the President of Foursquare Gospel Church should send him there as a Pastor so that he is quite close to his Godfather.
But having said that, I mean President Buhari had finished his term and he is gone and there is very little else to be said for and against. But everybody knew we had a job to do.”
After six months of President Bola Tinubu in power, he stated that while the six months might be too short to rate a sitting president, many expected him to hit the ground running, having prepared for the race for over 20 years.
Kukah, however, stated that the leadership selection structure “is so self-constraining.”
He said, “I am not making excuse for anybody, I am just saying the very fact that you had to rely on governors to give you names of Ministers and you rely on external agencies to be able to do things that ordinarily you who is composing the team needs to be able to do.”
“I mean a court decides who is going to come in at what time depending on the excuse that the person has. So, I totally agree with you that by now you would have thought, ‘okay, this is what we want to do, this is who can do it and this is how it needs to be done.”
The cleric however, said the best solution is to continue to hold those in power responsible and they have no excuse not to perform.
Kukah said, “If you stand up to be elected and you are elected, you must be prepared to face the consequences of that election, that means we must constantly hold your feet to the fire.
“So that’s why I am saying institutions and instruments of engagement must be in full glass. But also we must help to clarify public policies by articulating the things that need to be done and where the country needs to be heading,” he added.
