‘You Won’t Dare Treat Sultan This Way’- Amaechi Accuses Tinubu’s Camp Of Targeting Christians

• Amaechi says the Presidency would never have publicly confronted the Sultan of Sokoto over comments similar to Cardinal Onaiyekan’s.

• ADC vice-presidential candidate accuses Tinubu’s camp of deploying “attack dogs” to intimidate the Catholic Church and silence Christian leaders.

• Former Rivers governor insists Onaiyekan merely echoed Nigerians’ pain over worsening hardship, insecurity, and rising poverty.

• Amaechi urges the Federal Government to stop attacking Christian leaders and embrace constructive criticism in the interest of national unity.

August 5, () — Former Minister of Transportation and African Democratic Congress (ADC) vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s camp of targeting Christians and showing disrespect for the Catholic Church over recent attacks on the Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan.

Amaechi alleged that the President and his aides would never have reacted in the same manner if the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, had made comments similar to those expressed by Cardinal Onaiyekan on Nigeria’s worsening economic hardship and insecurity.

Speaking on Politics Today, a MEDIA TODAY programme anchored by Seun Okinbaloye on Tuesday, the former Rivers State governor condemned what he described as coordinated attacks against Christians following the Cardinal’s public remarks about the country’s economic situation.

“President Tinubu and his aides would not have insulted the Sultan of Sokoto if he had been the one who made the statements by Cardinal Onaiyekan. We’ve been insulted because we are Christians,” Amaechi said.

Amaechi further accused the President of deploying what he termed “attack dogs” to intimidate Christian leaders for speaking out against the hardship confronting Nigerians.

“Because he’s sending out attack dogs against the church, he has no respect for the Catholic Church, and they have no respect and regard for the Christian faith,” he said.

He maintained that the Catholic Church was carrying out its moral responsibility by drawing attention to rising poverty, inflation, corruption, and insecurity, stressing that religious leaders should never be intimidated into silence.

According to him, Cardinal Onaiyekan’s intervention was neither political nor partisan but a reflection of the daily realities confronting ordinary Nigerians.

“The church must begin to preach against this government for poverty and for insecurity and all that,” Amaechi said, insisting that religious institutions have both a constitutional and moral duty to hold leaders accountable.

Responding to a question on whether the government would have treated the Sultan of Sokoto similarly, Amaechi replied: “Exactly, would they have insulted him?”

He argued that Islamic clerics regularly criticise governments during sermons without attracting the same level of hostility from public officials.

“Today, in the mosque, people are preaching about what is happening in the government. Are they being insulted?” he queried.

Amaechi also said he had never subscribed to Politics based on religion or ethnicity, noting that although he is a Christian, he provides a place of worship for Muslims in his home because some members of his staff are Muslims.

He called on the President and his supporters to stop attacking Christian leaders and accord the Catholic Church the respect it deserves.

“They should leave the Catholic Church alone and they should respect God and respect the Christian faith. They should stop insulting Christians and the leadership of the Christian church,” he added.

Presidency, Cardinal Clash Over Closed-Door Meeting

The controversy followed a closed-door meeting on July 28, 2026, between President Tinubu and a delegation of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The delegation, led by CBCN President Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji and comprising Cardinal Onaiyekan, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, and other senior clerics, had presented a grim assessment of Nigeria’s economy, citing worsening inflation, poverty, and insecurity.

President Tinubu, however, defended his administration’s economic reforms, insisting that the country had emerged from difficult times and was making steady progress.

The dispute intensified after Cardinal Onaiyekan disclosed details of the meeting during an interview on ARISE News, revealing that the bishops told the President that Nigeria was “bleeding” from economic hardship and insecurity, an assessment Tinubu reportedly rejected.

The Cardinal also expressed concern over a remark attributed to the President that “in Politics, all is fair,” warning that such an approach could undermine public confidence in Nigeria’s democratic process ahead of the 2027 general elections.

His comments prompted swift reactions from presidential aides, including Temitope Ajayi, Sunday Dare, and Daniel Bwala, who faulted him for revealing details of what they described as a private meeting and questioned his interpretation of the discussions. Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, also criticised the Cardinal, while some government supporters alleged that his comments were politically motivated.

Amaechi, however, defended the cleric, describing him as a respected religious leader whose intervention was intended to draw attention to Nigeria’s deepening socioeconomic crisis rather than advance any political agenda.

He maintained that the country’s mounting challenges require honest conversations, accountability, and equal treatment of all citizens and institutions, irrespective of their religious affiliation.