Reno Omokri, on behalf of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s media office, has written Catholic pontiff, Pope Francis, reporting Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka to leadership of the church.
Recall that Rev. Mbaka had last week asked President Muhammadu Buhari to resign forthwith or be impeached by the House of representatives.
In response, the Presidency, through Garba Shehu, a senior special assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, accused the revered priest of making the call now because he was refused a contract by Buhari.
The clergyman is yet to directly respond to the allegations made by the President’s spokesman.
But some of his associates have challenged Garba Shehu to reply to the priest’s comments on Buhari and the insecurity in Nigeria.
According to them, the allegation of contract request made by the Presidency against the cleric does not hold water and has nothing to do with the matters raised.
In a joint statement by Chris Aniagu, Hillary Ugonna, Ugwu Victoria, among others, Mbaka’s allies said Nigerians are not new to claims against Mbaka from the corridors of power.
And Omokri, in a copy of the letter he made available to DAILY POST on Sunday, accused the Enugu-based Catholic Priest of having left the calling he took holy oaths to abide by, to dabble disastrously in politics.
The former presidential aide called on His Holiness, the Pope, to investigate Rev. Mbaka and take appropriate action against the minister to ensure that there is discipline within the Church in Nigeria.
The letter he signed on behalf of the media office of the former President, added, “You may or may not have heard of a certain Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka, a Catholic priest in Enugu, Nigeria, who has left the calling he took holy oaths to abide by, to dabble disastrously in politics.
Omokri recalled that between 2015-2016, Mbaka made public pronouncements (Prophecies) which among them were that God had revealed to him that He was displeased with then President Goodluck Jonathan.
Omokri also recalled that Mbaka had said that God had revealed to him that Buhari was the right man to take over as the then next President of the country.
“He also in the year 2015 made false allegations against Mr. Jonathan, to the effect that Mr. Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, wanted to assassinate him,” Omokri added.
“That I am willing to make an oath on a sworn affidavit that that allegation is false, and that at the material time when he made that allegation, I called on Reverend Mbaka to substantiate them with evidentiary proof, of which he never did.
“That again in 2019, after Nigerians had gone through so much hardship under the said Major General Buhari, a man of very strong religious bias, Reverend Mbaka made pronouncements to the effect that Nigerians should continue with Buhari, after he had publicly humiliated a fellow Catholic, Peter Obi, on December 3, 2019, for failing to make a public donation, and called him “stingy” and said “the way you and Atiku are moving will end in shame.”
“It should be noted that Father Mbaka’s actions go against 2 Corinthians 9:7:
‘Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.’
“And then when Father Mbaka made a volte face on April 29, 2021, asking his former friend, and now President Buhari, to resign, the President’s spokesmen revealed the next day that Reverend Mbaka had requested for contracts as pecuniary compensation for his support for Mr. Buhari, and when this was not acceded to, he went rogue.
“Your Holiness, By virtue of the Public Procurement Act of 2007, it is a criminal offence to demand and get a government contract without an open public and transparent tender. To legally get a contract in Nigeria, you must tender publicly, and the government must accept the lowest bid. Anything short of that is not just criminal, it is also unethical and unbecoming of a Catholic priest.
“In the opinion of many Nigerians, Reverend Father Mbaka has brought the Catholic Church into disrepute, and undermined the faith of the faithful, by his conduct.
“I therefore call on Your Holiness to investigate this matter, and take proper measures to ensure that there is discipline within the Catholic Church in Nigeria.”
Among other things, Rev. Mbaka, the Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry, Enugu, hinged his call for the impeachment of Buhari on the high level of insecurity around the country.
According to the cleric and gospel singer, said the President has failed the citizens woefully, demanding his immediate resignation.
Addressing his congregants at the Adoration Ground, Mbaka, who prophesied Buhari’s victory over Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, wondered how Buhari has maintained grave silence in the face of daily killings, kidnappings and other unspeakable crimes by herdsmen, bandits, Boko Haram and ‘unknown gunmen’.
Among various reactions that have greeted Mbaka’s outburst and Presidency’s response is that of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, who at the weekend described the cleric as a victim use and dump.
