•Pope and Tinubu
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal,
has described President Bola Tinubu’s meeting with Pope Leo XIV as an insult to Christianity.
He said the president’s presence at the Pope’s inauguration could have been arranged by lobbyists, reports Vanguard.
Recall that the head of the Roman Catholic Church recently invited President Tinubu to his historic papal inauguration at the Vatican City in Rome.
At the end of the inauguration, Tinubu joined other world leaders to shake hands and exchange pleasantries with the Pope.
But Babachir has downplayed the president’s meeting with Pope Leo, saying it’s a non-issue.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television today, Babachir said President Tinubu’s presence at the event is not an achievement, adding that lobbyists with correct inducement may have arranged the invitation extended to him.
“You know that going to see the Pope is just a matter of your lobby. How well you can lobby, how many friends you have out there in the Vatican that can lobby for you. So, it is not as if it’s a major achievement to visit the Pope on his inauguration.
“It can be arranged in advance by lobbyists, probably with the correct inducement. So, Bola Tinubu going to visit the Pope is a non issue,” he said.
The former SGF maintained that President Tinubu’s meeting with the Pope further reinforced his sentiment that a Muslim-Muslim ticket is an insult to Christians.
He faulted the president’s visit to the Vatican City, saying a Muslim should not be leading eminent Christians to the Pope.
According to him, Tinubu would not have attended the event if he had a Christian as vice president. He added that the ticket with which Tinubu emerged as Nigeria’s president is an unfair arrangement.
He said, “It reinforces my earlier belief that the Muslim-Muslim ticket is an insult to Christianity, had there a senior a Christian as a vice president. It’s only expected that he will be the one to represent the government. But now in Nigeria, we have a so-called Muslim visiting the Pope, leading a delegation of and Catholics, eminent Catholics, to the Vatican. So it proves the fact that a Muslim, Muslim ticket is an unfair arrangement.”
It would be recalled that Babachir initially supported Tinubu’s candidate during the build-up to the 2023 presidential election. He withdrew his support when Tinubu chose Kashim Shettima, a fellow Muslim, as his running mate.
