BY RALPH EJIMKONYE
The Presidency and the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, Friday came down heavily on fiery Catholic priest and Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry (AMEN), Enugu, Fr. Ejike Mbaka
Mbaka had called on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign for failing to address the deteriorating security situation across the country
Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, in a statement said Mbaka once brought three contractors to the President and insisted he must be rewarded for his support to the President. However, Buhari informed him that due process must be followed.
“Father Mbaka is everything apart form what he claims to be… an outsider distilling the avalanche of verbiage will be surprised that after supporting the President two times to win the Presidency, Father Mbaka has made a complete U-Turn, preposterously asking President Buhari to resign or be impeached,” Shehu said.
“Here is the point of departure: Father Mbaka asked for a meeting and to the shock of Presidential Aides, he came accompanied by three contractors. The President graciously allowed them in, and to everyone’s surprise, Father Mbaka asked for contracts as compensation for his support.
“Anyone familiar with President Buhari knows that he doesn’t break the laid down rules in dealing with contracts or any other government business for that matter. He requested the appropriate authorities to deal with the matter by laid down rules.
“Inside the Villa, discretion prevailed, that if those pictures and requests were made public, the followers will turn against the religious leader. None of it was released. Now, this is what is eating Father Mbaka.”
The APC in a statement in Abuja, accused Fr. Mbaka, against making statements that can destabilise the country.
Yekini Nabena, the ruling party’s deputy national secretary, in a statement on Friday in Abuja threatened to report Mr Mbaka to the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church ”if he continued to cause disaffection for the Federal Government with his utterances”.
The APC spokesperson said ”the man of God should have faced his spiritual calling rather than dabbling into politics, which he knew little or nothing about.”
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