Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, has given a frank assessment of the meeting between President Bola Tinubu and the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Nigeria saying that the meeting was not polite.

“When the nation is bleeding, you cannot expect a polite meeting with the Head of State. We told him the economy is not helping our poor people; he told us the economy is doing fine. Frankly speaking, he told us quite clearly that he did not agree with us,” Onaiyekan said.

The Catholic Priest spoke in an interview on Prime Time, a programme on Arise News, on Friday.

It will be recalled that President Tinubu met with the bishops on July 28, 2026, where they expressed concerns over the country’s economy, insecurity and political climate.

But speaking on their meeting with the President, Cardinal Onayekan  said the Bishops presented the reality being faced by Nigerians to the president after extensive consultations but President Tinubu rejected the bishops’ assessment, insisting that his administration was on the right track.

“We didn’t expect him to agree with us. We have done our duty, we have delivered our message, and we have a feeling that somehow, along the line, somebody will show him a few of the things we said” the Cardinal noted

“We’re worried about the fact that President Tinubu’s administration is bent on winning the 2027 elections by all means,” he said.

“Unfortunately, they have a lot of means at their disposal and they’re deploying all those means in a way that eventually, even with a free and fair election, the votes of the people may not count.”

The cardinal warned that unless there was urgent reforms of Nigeria’s electoral system and a guarantee of a credible, free and fair elections, there could be serious political challenges.

“We gave a warning that if we do not rearrange our election system to make sure that elections are really free, fair and credible, it can lead to difficulties,” he said.

Cardinal Onaiyekan also warned against the emergence of a one-party state adding that the powers of incumbency should not be used to create an unfair advantage over other candidates.

“We also warned that the country doesn’t gain anything by a one-party state in a so-called democracy. Of course, we are not expecting Mr President to help the opposition to defeat him. But the point we are raising is that even though the president has all the powers of incumbency, he is in the election. He is a candidate like any other person” he said

The Archbishop Emeritus  said that President Bola Tinubu disagreed with the assessment of the economy and security concerns raised by members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria during their meeting.

Cardinal Onaiyekan said the bishops deliberately presented the realities confronting Nigerians rather than giving the President a favourable picture of the country, adding that they were satisfied Tinubu listened because he responded directly to their concerns.

He however, expressed concern that too few people within government were willing to tell the President the truth, describing it as one of the country’s major challenges.