A presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, yesterday disclosed that the spiritual director of Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Fr Ejike Mbaka, turned against President Muhammadu Buhari after his requests for contracts as compensation for his support were turned down.
This reaction followed Mbaka’s call on the National Assembly to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari if he failed to resign over the increasing spate of insecurity in the country.
Shehu, in a statement titled, “Father Mbaka is everything apart from what he claims to be,’’ noted that presidential aides were shocked when the clergyman came to a scheduled meeting with three contractors.
He said President Buhari, however, requested the appropriate authorities to deal with the matter in accordance with laid down rules.
The statement reads: “An outsider distilling the avalanche of verbiage will be surprised that after supporting the president two times to win, Father Mbaka has made a complete u-turn, preposterously asking President Buhari to resign or be impeached.
“Here is the point of departure: Father Mbaka asked for a meeting, and to the shock of presidential aides, he came accompanied by three contractors. The president graciously allowed them in, and to everyone’s surprise, Mbaka asked for contracts as compensation for his support.
“Anyone familiar with President Buhari knows that he doesn’t break the laid down rules in dealing with contracts or any other government business for that matter. He requested the appropriate authorities to deal with the matter in accordance with laid down rules.
“Inside the Villa, discretion prevailed, that if those pictures and requests were made public, the followers will turn against the religious leader. None of it was released. Now, this is what is eating Father Mbaka.’’
But reacting, a Peoples Democratic Party chieftain and former Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, yesterday lashed at the Presidency and Fr Mbaka, describing them as “blackmailers.”
Fayose also said both the Presidency and the preacher didn’t deserve the attention of Nigerians.
“The Presidency and Father Mbaka are nothing but blackmailers and scammers. They don’t deserve the attention of Nigerians,” he tweeted.
It would be recalled that Father Mbaka had on Thursday advised President Buhari to resign because God was angry with him.
Mbaka, who was one of the staunch supporters of President Buhari in the build-up to the 2015 elections, said Buhari should resign or be impeached.
