The President-General of the Charismatic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Leonard Bature Kawas, has alleged that some individuals are sponsoring banditry, kidnapping and terrorism to discredit President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Kawas made the claim while speaking on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Tuesday, where he defended the bishops’ recent endorsement of Tinubu for a second term in 2027.
The cleric dismissed suggestions that the endorsement was financially motivated, insisting that the bishops had not received any money from the President or his administration in exchange for their support.
According to him, the bishops decided to back Tinubu because they believe some people are deliberately fueling insecurity to frustrate the government and damage the President’s reputation.
“Today, this endorsement has not given us any one naira. No one naira has been given to us. We did it because, based on current happenings in our nation, there is sabotage by people sponsoring banditry and kidnapping just to give Tinubu a bad name,” Kawas said.
He compared the current situation to the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, alleging that similar efforts were made at the time to portray the former president negatively.
Kawas claimed that available international intelligence indicated that some individuals were behind the sponsorship of banditry and terrorism as part of an alleged attempt to blackmail and frustrate Tinubu’s government.
“That is why we decided that since it is a proven fact and there are international intelligence on this that some people are sponsoring all this banditry and terrorism just to give Tinubu a bad name, to frustrate his government and to blackmail him,” he said.
The bishop said the conference therefore resolved to support Tinubu because its members believe he remains the right candidate to back ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
He also maintained that financial considerations were not the basis for the endorsement, stressing that the bishops would support a candidate they considered suitable regardless of whether they received any financial benefit.
Kawas further cited the 2023 presidential election, recalling that the bishops had supported Peter Obi despite his position that he would not give money to Nigerians during the campaign.
He said the absence of financial inducement did not stop the bishops from supporting Obi at the time, arguing that their political decisions were based on conviction rather than financial gain.
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