The head of Nigeria’s Christian Pilgrims Commission, Bishop Stephen Adegbite, has pulled back the curtain on a tense moment in the aftermath of the 2023 presidential election, revealing that Catholic Cardinal John Onaiyekan declined to recognise Bola Tinubu as president until the Supreme Court settled the legal disputes.
Adegbite, a Methodist bishop, shared the recollection during a live interview on TVC on Thursday. He was responding to the wave of political prophecies already surfacing ahead of the 2027 presidential race, and he urged Nigerians to judge candidates on their track records rather than on the pronouncements of men of God.
The bishop pointed out that several clerics who made bold predictions about the outcome of the 2023 election were ultimately proven wrong. He then recounted how, immediately after Tinubu was declared the winner, Onaiyekan held back his recognition of the new president, waiting for the judiciary to have its final say.
“In 2023, when President Tinubu was declared the winner, Cardinal Onaiyekan said he would not recognise Mr President until the Supreme Court gave its verdict,” Adegbite said. “But we said Nigerians had voted and we have a President, and until the decision is overturned by the Supreme Court, that’s when you can speak. But for him to say we don’t have a president, we told him at that time that we have a president.”
Adegbite, who leads the state agency responsible for Christian pilgrimages, also called on politicians and their supporters to campaign on merit rather than tearing down their opponents. “You can have your own candidate, but don’t run down other people’s candidates. Sell your own candidate. Let people see what your candidate has done to justify becoming the President of Nigeria,” he said.
He added that the performance of the Tinubu administration would weigh heavily on the minds of voters when they head to the polls in 2027. He cited ongoing infrastructure efforts, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sagamu-Benin Expressway, as projects that could shape public opinion in the government’s favour.
“The work of Mr President will speak for him,” Adegbite remarked.
The bishop also took aim at the rising trend of political prophecy among religious leaders, accusing some of using such declarations to chase attention and grow their online followings. “They only want attention. They want to attract crowds and traffic to their social media handles,” he said.
