"BISHOPS ARE THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NATION": SENATOR ORJI KALU BACKS CATHOLIC PRELATES, SAYS POLITICIANS MISLEAD TINUBU

The Senator representing Abia North, Orji Uzor Kalu, has backed the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) following their high-level visit to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

​Reacting to disclosures by Archbishop Emeritus John Cardinal Onaiyekan—who revealed that President Tinubu disagreed with the bishops’ assessment regarding economic hardship and insecurity—Kalu described the Catholic bishops as "the conscience of the nation" whose feedback should be embraced in good faith.

​The former Abia State governor commended the meeting, emphasizing that the bishops' candid report serves as an essential reality check for the presidency.

​“The Catholic bishops are the conscience of the country, and once they give advice, their advice is not for or against; it's just for any sitting President to see things the way they should be. The Catholic bishops' visit to President Tinubu is a good one; I support it because they are telling him the way it is. It prompts the President to work harder because the Catholic bishops are telling him the truth, even if politicians are lying to him that things are good everywhere. Even if we politicians can lie to him, the bishops will tell him the truth about the current reality of the country.”

​While acknowledging the severe economic challenges and security strain facing ordinary citizens, Senator Kalu maintained that the hardship should not be blamed entirely on President Tinubu, but urged the executive arm to act on the clergy's grassroots report to accelerate national recovery.