Matthew Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, has faulted the leadership selection process in the country, saying that the process is often self-constraining, with governors providing ministerial nominees and external agencies playing a significant role in decision-making.
The Catholic Bishop stated this in an interview on Arise Television yesterday, adding that he had no personal grudge against the former president.
According to Kukah, “I am not making excuse for anybody, I am just saying the very fact that you had to rely on governors to give you names of ministers and you rely on external agencies to be able to do things that ordinarily you who is composing the team needs to be able to do”.
He expressed shock at what former ministers who worked with former President Muhammadu Buhari are saying about him and his administration.
Kukah, who was one of the fiercest critics of former President Buhari and his administration, said the only problem he had with Buhari was his inability to manage the country’s diversity.
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Speaking further, Kukah claimed that the former president had made Nigeria more vulnerable and succeeded in splitting the country.
Kukah said, “There was nothing I said about President Buhari that was personal that was disrespectful; I just felt he was doing things, that is, especially in the area of managing our diversity and look;
“I’m talking to ministers now who served in that government; I cannot call names. I am shocked to hear the kind of things people are saying about those who served in that government; that is for another day.”
Kukah further said, “There was nothing I said about President Buhari that was personal, that was disrespectful, I just felt he was doing things, that is, especially in the area of managing our diversity and look;
“I’m talking to ministers now who served in that government; I cannot call names. I am shocked to hear the kind of things people are saying about those who served in that government; that is for another day.”
He stressed that Buhari served his term, and knew that he respected him for that, noting that there was nothing he was saying that was personal.
“I imagined poor Adesina (Femi) and his team had a job to do and they needed to do that job even though there was nothing to say.
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“I will respect and I hope that Adesina knows that there is a Foursquare Gospel Church in Daura, I believe that the President of Foursquare Gospel Church should send him there as a Pastor so that he is quite close to his Godfather.
“But having said that, I mean President Buhari had finished his term and he is gone and there is very little else to be said for and against. But everybody knew we had a job to do,” the cleric added.
Speaking on the administration of President Bola Tinubu, Kukah said six months may be too short a time to rate him, noting that many had expected Tinubu to hit the ground running after preparing for the presidency for over 20 years.
