In a statement issued on Thursday by Wilfred Chidi Agubuchie of the Enugu Catholic Diocese, the church clearly disassociated itself from the recent statement by Father Ejike Mbaka, the founder and spiritual director of the Adoration Ministries, Enugu, Nigeria (AMEN).
Father Mbaka in a video circulating online and watched by a Clariform reporter, the controversial catholic priest described Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate as a “stingy man”.
He also went further to enjoin his church members, whom he was addressing in the video not to vote for a stingy man for president, as according to him:
“A stingy man cannot be our president, we are very hungry — we need a generous person, Nigerians are hungry, are we not hungry?” said the very controversial Rev. Mbaka.
This according to news making the round emanated from Mr Peter Obi`s refusal to donated money to Mbaka`s church, when he requested him to do so during his time as the governor of Anambra State.
Mr. Obi is said to have refused Mbaka`s request for donation because he believed that rather church building, such fund can be better used for alleviating poverty and raising the standard of education in Anambra state.
Enugu Catholic Diocese has risen in clear condemnation of Mbaka and the statement attributed to him.
The church have said that his (Mbaka’s) comments are a “clear violation” of the provisions of the canon law “which forbids priests from engaging in partisan politics”.
The wife of the Late Odumegwu Ojukwu, an Igbo hero have also rose in the defense of Mr. Peter Obi, who she described as selfless and a cheerful giver, but very meticulous in the way he advances money.
She told a story of how the former Anambra State governor rejected to pay for an expensive suit in the United States, costing over 3,000 USD, because he believed the money could be better used to provide for the needy.
He therefore, reserved more than 85% of the cost of the suit and bought a far cheaper one for himself, and released the rest of the money to her charity organization.
She went further to narrate how the said donation that was saved from the designer suit was used to help the “real needy” instead of wasting it on one expensive designers suit in the United States.
NOTABLE QUOTES
A statement issued by Wilfred Chidi Agubuchie of the Enugu Catholic Diocese disassociating the church from Father Mbaka`s comment, reads in part:
“The Catholic Diocese of Enugu hereby condemns and dissociates herself from such unbecoming and divisive utterances from Fr. Mbaka,”
“The diocese said 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,”
“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.”
In defence of Mr Peter Obi, Bianca Ojukkwu have said the following, which she titles “NO APOLOGIES, PLEASE. On Peter Obi’s supposed ‘Stinginess’”:
”Sometime in 2009, ‘Mr’(as he preferred to be addressed) Peter Obi, Governor Of Anambra State at the time, visited Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and myself at Dallas, Texas. He came to deliver a get well message from Dr Goodluck Jonathan and was billed to attend a black tie event at the Dallas Marriot.
”Curiously, he flew into Dallas airport with one small carry on luggage which he insisted on wheeling around himself, and on getting to our residence requested to freshen up. He opened his carry on, filled with files and paperwork and a few toiletries and an extra shirt, when the Ikemba and I asked if he was expecting another item of luggage, and he said no.
‘‘Then, what will you be wearing to the event tonight?’, we inquired. It was at that point that it struck him that he couldn’t show up in his casuals at such a ceremony.
“I insisted on taking him to the luxury men’s emporium at Nieman Marcus to buy a smart black suit. When we got there, he was busy doing the Dollar to Naira currency conversions. The suit that was a perfect match for him was a dapper Tom Ford suit with a price tag of 3,985 dollars plus tax. He did the calculations and told me ‘Do you know how many students this amount of money can train in Nigeria?’ I reminded him that he was the governor as well as the special guest, and for the caliber of guests expected at that evening’s occasion, including the mayor, senators and captains of conglomerates amongst others, he needed to be dressed in top form.
“To cut the story short, he refused to pay what he termed ’that outrageous price’ for the Tom Ford suit and that was how we ended up at Steinmart where he agreed to pay a more acceptable price of 220 dollars, tax inclusive, for a basic men’s suit which he was happy to wear to that evening’s event.
“What struck me, was that as we were on the way to the airport to see him off for his return flight back to Nigeria, he reached for his pocket where he brought out an envelope of crisp hundred dollar bills. The amount in the envelope was 3,800 dollars.
He said ‘ Anyanwu, this is the balance of the money I would have paid for the ‘Ford’ suit. If the label on the suit was ‘Peter Obi’, I am wondering if anybody in America will pay that amount for it. I have deducted the amount we paid for that suit we eventually bought. Please use this balance for your Charity foundation to help those in actual need. I trust you will do so’. We all laughed heartily. Vintage Peter Obi !
“The eventual beneficiaries of that Largese were Madam Theresa Agbo, a yam seller who became penniless and displaced when her Yam shed was gutted by fire, Callistus Egbe who was bedridden due to illness, and needed help with the school fees of his young children, and the Mgbemena family of six who were thrown out of their one room accommodation (which we subsequently doubled to two rooms) because their breadwinner fell upon hard times and could no longer afford the rent.
“In Life, You either live by your creed or you desecrate the mould by which the Almighty created you. Any progressive nation measures an individual by his values, not his vaults.
If this way of life is what is derided as ‘stinginess’ on the part of Peter Obi, then we all need to adopt this mould for a more sustainable and more humane environment.
Iyom Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu
16 June 2022.”
