The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah has said that while he was struggling to ensure that what President Muhammadu Buhari said ahead of the 2015 election did not happen so that Nigerians could live in peace, his aides such as Lai Muhammad, Garba Shehu, and Femi Adesina were working for Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar and Orji Uzor Kalu.
The Bishop was reacting to a statement by the presidency in reaction to his Easter message on Buhari government.
Femi Adesina had on Monday berated Bishop Kukah and others who criticize the Buhari government. Adesina accused Kukah and other critics of trying to divide the country.
But Kuka recalled his role when Buhari made an infamous statement ahead of the election when he said that “if the election did not succeed, it would be ‘blood for the monkey, blood for the dog.’That it was going to be a fight to finish.”
He said Buhari’s declaration of violence had created tension across the country, but he alongside others made effort that brought him and former President Goodluck Jonathan to the table to sign a Peace Accord.
The cleric, who spoke to Arise TV with Reuben Abati, said that Lai Mohammed, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu have no right to speak back to him when he talks about issues concerning a country he had stood to defend at its most critical moments.
Kukah said, “Remember the General Buhari’s famous statement about the [2015] election and the outcome when he made a famous statement, [saying] that if the election did not succeed it would be ‘blood for the monkey, blood for the dog?’That it was going to be fight to finish?
“All of us were aware of the tension that existed in the country as of that time. I’m humbled that I was critical and central, led by Abdulsalam Abubakar, in getting both men to sign the Peace Accord.
“The point I’m trying to make is that that morning, two days to the election, when General Buhari had finally agreed, we’ve been able to track him down and he had agreed to meet with us by 8:am in the morning, we didn’t know how to reach President Jonathan because he [Jonathan] had told us he was flying to Asaba at 9am that morning.
“If you [Abati] could remember, I called you on the phone and told you we had a text of the Peace Accord that Jonathan had to sign. ‘Can you help take the text to him?’ I asked you. And you took it to him and he signed. I was able to persuade President Jonathan to sign the Peace Accord.
“I’m saying this because I’m not a stranger to the process we’re in. While we were sweating and doing all these things, Femi Adesina was being paid a salary by Orji Kalu. He was doing a good job in the Sun as a journalist.
“Garba Shehu was working for Atiku. Lai Mohammed was working for Tinubu. Everybody should answer their fathers’ names.
“I can say that the reason why I’m emotional and passionate about the things of this country is that I’ve paid my dues. Let each and everyone of my critics tell me where they were at the most critical moment of Nigeria’s history.”