A missionary Catholic priest in Gambia, Rev. Fr. Kelvin Ugwu, has accused Bishop Matthew Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese of losing his once-outspoken stance on political issues.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Ugwu said that Kukah is no longer the same cleric he once knew, particularly in his approach to criticizing government leadership.
Ugwu’s remarks were prompted by Kukah’s recent comments on the alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria. According to the priest, Kukah has not applied the same level of scrutiny to the administration of President Bola Tinubu as he did to the late former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The truth of the matter is that we are tiptoeing on this issue because the person involved is Bishop Kukah. I bet you, if it were another person, I know what we would have written,” Ugwu wrote.
He added that while he has been inspired by Kukah over the years, the bishop’s political stance appears to have shifted.
“All the things he criticised the previous government for, we are experiencing the worst of them under the present administration. If he wants to start giving this administration some understanding and sympathy, I think the best place to begin is to apologise to others for not giving them the same understanding, especially Buhari,” Ugwu stated.
The priest further criticized the circumstances under which Tinubu’s administration came into power, citing alleged electoral irregularities and the reversal of INEC’s commitment to using BVAS technology. Ugwu stressed that no matter what Tinubu does in office, it cannot justify the means by which he assumed power.
