The Presidency has strongly criticized the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), accusing them of launching an "uncharitable assault" on President Bola Tinubu by labeling his administration`s economic and security policies a failure.

The reaction follows recent comments by John Cardinal Onaiyekan, the Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja. Speaking on Arise Television, Onaiyekan revealed that President Tinubu rejected the bishops` critical assessment of the nation`s security and economic challenges during a meeting at the Presidential Villa on July 28, 2026. According to Onaiyekan, the President insisted his administration remains on the right track.

In a sharp response on social media, Sunday Dare, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, hit back at the clerics. He argued that reducing the government`s multi-sectoral reforms to a narrative of failure is intellectually dishonest.

Dare defended the President`s track record, stating that Tinubu inherited a "crumbling, bankrupt estate" hovering on the edge of total economic collapse in May 2023. He praised the President`s "rare political courage" in rebuilding the nation from its foundation up and urged critics to consider the deep structural crisis the administration met upon taking office.