DISCLAIMER: ARCHBISHOP KAIGAMA HAS NOT ENDORSED SHETTIMA
Archdiocese of Abuja that false news which has gone viral on the endorsement of Kashim Shettima as the APC Vice Presidential candidate.
This
fake news is coming after the nationwide outcry that graced the Muslim-Muslim
ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) since Bola Ahmed Tinubu
announced the former Governor of Borno, Senator Kashim Shettima as his running
mate in the 2023 presidential election, the loyalists of the ruling party have
been at their wits end explaining to Nigerians the soundness of their choice.
One
of their antics to give credit to the much-criticized choice has been to use
the good names of reputable Nigerians to launder the image of Shettima. One of
such futile attempts is dragging the name of Most Rev Ignatius Kaigama, the
Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, into the fanbase of APC. Recently, social
media was agog with the skewed news of such spurious endorsements.
To
set the records right, at no point has the venerable archbishop either in his
personal capacity or as the Metropolitan of Abuja Ecclesiastical Province made
such comments. Those familiar with the norms of the Catholic Church understand
that Canon 285 § 2 admonishes that “Clerics are to avoid those things which,
although not unbecoming, are nevertheless foreign to the clerical state.”
Endorsing
a candidate of a particular party by any cleric as purported is certainly
foreign to the clerical state and not a possible action by a Catholic cleric. It
is therefore unthinkable that Archbishop Kaigama who knows better the workings
of the Church as a top cleric in the Nigerian sphere would make such an alleged
endorsement. How could he when such posture contradicts the very essence of his
episcopal ministry?
The
rumour peddlers depict that they are out of touch with ecclesiastical reality in
Nigeria. Archbishop Kaigama ended his tenure as President of the Catholic Bishops
Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) since 2018. After him, there have been two successors,
yet the bearers of the false news presented him now in 2022 as the President of CBCN, which he longer is.
The
bigger question to be asked is: How did we come about such a nasty insinuation?
Why the futile attempt to put words in the mouth of the Archbishop?
Well,
it has to do with the event of 2016. As the then President of CBCN, Archbishop
Kaigama along with other bishops, graced the Golden Jubilee of the Catholic
Diocese of Maiduguri while Kashim Ibrahim Shettima was the Governor of Borno State.
As
it was customary, he led the bishops to pay a courtesy visit to then Governor
Shettima. Archbishop Kaigama minced no words in reminding his listeners that
the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria has a prophetic voice. His words: “We are a voice
for the people. Our voice is a prophetic voice. We see things where things are
good, we say it so. Where things are bad, we say it so.”
Coming
from such a premise, he of course commended some virtues he found in the governor
as it relates to his working relationship with peoples of other faith. Six
years after however, it is surprising that his innocuous comment has been
reinvented by mischievous makers to mean endorsement of Shettima as Tinubu’s
vice presidential candidate, what a shame!
The
general public is hereby notified that Archbishop Kaigama has not and will not
endorse any candidate as his flock cut across political parties and he would
not prefer one candidate above the other. It is up to Nigerian voters to make
their choice through the ballot box by electing the best candidates.
Fr.
Patrick Alumuku, PhD
Director
of Communications
Catholic
Archdiocese of Abuja.
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