President Bola Tinubu’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, has moved to calm tensions with Cardinal John Onaiyekan, insisting that his criticism of the Catholic cleric was never intended as disrespect.
Ajayi spoke on Arise TV on Thursday, days after accusing the Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja of an “abuse of clerical privilege” for publicly discussing details of a private meeting between President Tinubu and Catholic bishops.
He said the controversy should now be considered closed.
“Well, I think that episode has been closed. Cardinal Onaiyekan is a respected clergy and a statesman in his own right,” Ajayi said.
“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.”
The disagreement followed Onaiyekan’s television account of a closed-door meeting between Tinubu and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, CBCN.
The bishops had raised concerns over insecurity, poverty, tertiary education, democracy and credible elections during the engagement with the President.
Ajayi had faulted the cardinal for publicly recounting aspects of the discussions, describing the action as inappropriate for a meeting held privately.
Onaiyekan subsequently defended his decision to speak publicly, saying he was 82 years old and “not afraid of anybody.”
Ajayi, however, said his intervention was merely intended to present another perspective on what transpired at the meeting.
“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 presidential aide maintained that he had no intention of disparaging either Onaiyekan or the Catholic Church.
“And I think it’s not something we really want to dwell further on,” Ajayi added.
His latest comments effectively draw a line under the public disagreement that followed Onaiyekan’s account of the bishops’ meeting with Tinubu.
