TheCable

Reno Omokri, former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has asked Pope Francis, world leader of the Catholic Church, to investigate Ejike Mbaka, a priest in Enugu state, for his alleged involvement in political matters.

In a letter to the Vatican, Omokri accused Mbaka, spiritual director of Adoration Ministry Enugu, Nigeria (AMEN), of making false allegations and other unethical practices.

He said the conduct of the controversial Catholic priest has brought disrepute to the church, asking the Pope to ensure that disciplinary measures are brought against Mbaka.

“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 said.

“At various times between the years 2015-2016, this fellow made public pronouncements to the effect that God had told him that He was displeased with and had departed from Nigeria’s then President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

“He then claimed that God had told him that his opponent, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) was (and these are his exact words, not mine) “an answer to prayer”, a man who would “save” Nigeria, a “liberator” of Nigeria, and the “glory” of Nigeria.

“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. 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, 2018, for failing to make a public donation, and called him “stingy” and said “the way you and Atiku are moving will end in shame.”

“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.”

In a sermon on Wednesday, Mbaka asked Buhari to resign over the worsening insecurity in the country.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had threatened to report Mbaka to the Pope, while the presidency said the outburst of the priest was because he once brought three contractors to President Muhammadu Buhari and was rebuffed.