BISHOP KUKAH’s CALL FOR COUP DISAPPOINTING, UNFOUNDED, UNGODLY – GROUP

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

Kukah’s recent incitement of military to overthrow the Buhari government is being treated in certain quarters as a last option, after many such calls failed since shortly after Buhari took over power in 2015, and is now described as exposition of where Omoyele Sowore’s #RevolutionNow and #ENDSARS movement both seeking to collapse the government were coming from.

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has expressed disappointment and condemnation of the sermon delivered by Bishop Matthew Kukah on Christmas Day 2020, where he made unfounded allegations against President Muhammadu Buhari, and also made subtle calls for a coup in the country.

Kukah’s recent incitement of military to overthrow the Buhari government is being treated in certain quarters as a last option, after many such calls failed since shortly after Buhari took over power in 2015, and is now described as exposition of where Omoyele Sowore’s #RevolutionNow and #ENDSARS movement both seeking to collapse the government were coming from.

The group in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, sent to The DEFENDER, noted that this was not the first time the Catholic Bishop had used the pulpit to sow division, discord and fuel an agenda of anarchy.

“We condemn the remarks of Bishop Kukah where he made claims that the President was creating a Northern hegemony and that such could have been the reason for a coup.

“These comments are false, unreasonable and evil. They are anti-Nigeria and have no place in the kind of conversations Nigerians deserve to hear at a time that all are longing for peace and love.

“Time after time, the President Buhari administration has responded with clear facts, numbers and statistics on this allegation of nepotism, showing that in fact, the South-West has the most appointees in the government, while the South has more appointees than the North.

“Yet, no one has produced evidence to the contrary.

“Bishop Matthew Kukah has fallen far below the mark expected of godly leaders, again”, the statement said.

“He has used the pulpit where the messages of peace, of joy, of solidarity, of unity and love should be heard to rather preach messages of discord, disunity, anarchy, fear and worse, to tell blatant lies against the President.

“A man who prides himself as a Bishop of the Church should not be the kind of person that these untruths should be heard from.”

The BMO stated that the sermon delivered by Bishop Kukah on Christmas Day was a contrast against the spirit and message of the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

“Bishop Kukah’s Christmas sermon is a contrast against what Christ’s birth and his life on earth symbolise, and continue to be the subject of sermons across the world. They are like light and darkness, they have no meeting point. Christ came to exemplify, teach and show us forgiveness, love, peace and fellowship; Bishop Kukah, who claims to be a servant of Christ preaches hate, anger, violence and disunity.

“This irony is made worse by the very fact that Bishop Kukah is a member of Nigeria’s National Peace Committee. But he constantly continues to be the reference point for trouble and warmongering. We have previously called for him to be sacked from that role as he does not fit in, at all.

“His partisanship and hate for President Buhari has put him in a position of blindness where he can no longer work for or achieve peace.

“It is not surprising that he chose Christmas Day, to deliver an anti-Christian Sermon.”

The group stated that it remained confident in Nigeria’s Armed Forces not to be moved or take any notice of the sermon delivered by Bishop Kukah.

“The Nigerian Armed Forces under President Buhari are not thugs and will not do anything against the Constitution of Nigeria. They are well-trained and are in tune with the President’s agenda for the nation: to tackle insecurity, to fight corruption and to rejuvenate and build a resilient economy for the country. We are sure that, this will be the case even when President Buhari leaves office, at the expiration of his tenure”, the statement added.