Catholic Diocese of Enugu on Thursday dissociated itself from the comment made recently by Ejike Mbaka, spiritual director of Adoration Ministries, Enugu, Nigeria (AMEN).
Gatekeepers News reports that Mbaka, while speaking at his Adoration Ministry in Enugu, said Peter is a stingy man and can never be Nigeria’s President.
He urged his followers not to vote for a “stingy man”, saying it was better to have an old man as President than a ‘stingy young man’.
“A stingy man, that cannot give people his money, with this hunger ravaging the land, and you are saying he is the one you want. You want to die of hunger? Are you people insane? Where is the Holy Spirit?”
He stressed: “I did not say he is a bad man; I said he is a stingy man. A hungry man wants someone that is generous; the man has so much money, but he is ‘I, me, myself’. But that money will not be useful to him.”
In reaction, the Catholic Diocese of Enugu said Mbaka’s comments are a “clear violation” of the provisions of the canon law “which forbids priests from engaging in partisan politics”.
A statement made available by Wilfred Chidi Agubuchie, reads: “The Catholic Diocese of Enugu hereby condemns and dissociates herself from such unbecoming and divisive utterances from Fr. Mbaka.”
The statement noted that Mbaka’s views on the matter are “entirely personal to him and do not represent the position of the Catholic Diocese of Enugu”.
“In an effort to keep him united to the Body of Christ, we enjoin him to refrain from making further provocative prophecies or utterances capable of heating up the polity,” the diocese said.
“We assure the people of God and the general public that the Catholic Diocese of Enugu is taking the due canonical process.
“Finally, we urge all the People of God to continue to pray for peaceful elections and to discharge their civic responsibilities by getting their Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) and casting their votes in order to elect the right candidates.”
