Mbaka Is Responsible For His Words, Not The Catholic Body, Catholic Priests Speak

Catholic Bishop of Abuja Metropolitan See, Cardinal John
Onaiyekan has condemned the actions of Rev. Fr Ejike Mbaka for openly asking
Nigerians to reject President Jonathan in the forthcoming presidential
elections which will take place next month.

Onaiyekan who spoke to ThisDay said the church never sent Mbaka
to give any opinion on what was going on in the country, and Mbaka should be
held responsible for his words. He went as far as saying the Catholic body
should also sanction him for the utterances.

“Mbaka will take responsibilities for his own actions. I do
not believe in my mind that the way things are in Nigeria, any Catholic priest
has the mandate to decide which of the political contestants should be voted
for. What most of us will do is to tell people to vote according to their
conscience and then, we tell the authorities to allow people to vote freely and
fairly.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if most people are not happy with
the statement he made. From my reactions, you should see that I do not agree
with him. I don’t believe a priest should be doing that.

“But, like I said, Mbaka is a priest of his own type. If he
was in my archdioceses, I will have sanctioned him long ago for the kind of
things and utterances that he makes. But, he is not under my diocese; he has a
Bishop to handle that if there is any need,” the Cardinal observed.

Meanwhile, the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference
of Nigeria (CBCN), Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama, said Nigerians should avoid
hasty generalisation, as the statement of one Catholic priest cannot be taken
to represent the voices of more than 30 million Catholics in Nigeria.