There has been an outpour of anger and condemnation by Nigerians trailing the comments of the outspoken Priest and Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry Enugu, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka against the Labour Party’s (LP) Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi.
Social media users have, in their different posts, accused Fr. Mbaka of promoting corruption by saying Mr. Obi would not be President of Nigeria in 2023 because he is a ‘stingy’ man who does not give money to people.
The priest further said that an old man President is better than a stingy man.
Following this declaration by Mbaka, Nigerians across different regions of the country took to various social media handles to condemn the utterances he made.
A content developer with Twitter handle @Noble Ogaga wrote: ”Got Father Mbaka’s statement on Peter Obi.Well, I leave it there. As a people, the definition of generous politician is a corrupt politician. Yes I said it. Good Governance should not be about sharing money. Once a politician does his job well, there would be no money to throw around. You know why? All those monies would be found on the roads, hospitals, schools and industries. Whenever a politician gives you money, just know that it is a pinch of your common wealth unevenly distributed. A large chunk is in his pocket and just a morsel has been given to u.
While another Tweep, @Chloropheniramine wrote : ”Father Mbaka has never commented about the ASUU strike , killing in the country, the banditry ,current inflation, the evil APC Government, owed salaries of civil Servants and general chaos in the country. All he needs is money from @Peter Obi . A proof that not all thieves carry gun!”
In a like manner the Catholic Diocese of Enugu, under the leadership of Most Rev. Callistus V C Onaga and the entire Diocese, in a written letter, dissociated themselves from the inflammatory utterances made by the priest and clearly stated that he does not represent their position in any way, but are entirely his personal views.
The run up of events goes back to when Peter Obi was the Governor of Enugu State, Rev Fr Mbaka had requested the Governor to make a donation to his ministry which the Governor in response to the request asked the priest to get a site for the project then he would then carry on from that point.
This did not go down well with the priest who made several attempts to persuade him to make a commitment as seen in a shared video by the Labour party commentary and support group on Twitter.
In a more recent development, the priest made a U-turn on Friday, 17th June 2022, and tendered a public apology to the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi and his supporters over his utterances against his person in a letter he personally signed.
In the apology letter titled, ‘Rev Fr Ejike Mbaka Blesses His Excellency Peter Obi and His Supporters’, the controversial Catholic priest asked for understanding and forgiveness.
Mbaka in the letter also prayed for the former governor of Anambra State, that God will grant him his heart desires and other presidential candidates.
He decried the increasing insecurity in Nigeria which he attributed to bad leadership and appealed to Nigerian youths to also pray that God in his mercy will give Nigeria a man after his heart as the next president.
Story: Hilda Katu