Former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, has questioned the recent criticism of Catholic Bishops by Bishop Stephen Adegbite, urging Nigerians to scrutinise the institutional relationship between religious leaders and government before dismissing episcopal criticism of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as politically motivated.

Dalung, in a statement on the controversy on his Facebook wall, argued that while Adegbite was entitled to support the Tinubu administration, his public defence of the government should be considered alongside his official responsibilities and proximity to the Presidency.

The former minister stressed that his intervention was not an indictment of Adegbite’s faith, denomination or right to hold a political opinion, but a call for greater scrutiny of the competing claims being made by Christian leaders.

Adegbite is the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), following his appointment by President Tinubu in January 2024 for an initial five-year tenure. He is also Chaplain of the Aso Rock Villa Chapel and Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

According to Dalung, these positions do not invalidate Adegbite’s views or make his defence of the administration improper. However, he said they provide relevant context for assessing his criticism of Catholic Bishops who have publicly raised concerns about the direction of the country.

Dalung noted that Adegbite had, on several occasions, expressed support for the Tinubu administration, defended its policies and urged Nigerians to support the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He said there was therefore a need to distinguish between legitimate disagreement with the Catholic Bishops and assertions about their motives.

“There is a very important difference between saying, ‘I disagree with the Catholic Bishops,’ and saying, ‘The Catholic Bishops are politically motivated and are against the government,'” Dalung argued.

“The first is an opinion. The second is an allegation. And allegations require evidence.”

He challenged Adegbite, and those making similar claims, to identify specific instances in which the Catholic Bishops had misrepresented the security situation, exaggerated the hardship confronting Nigerians or deliberately distorted the position of the Federal Government.

“If the Catholic Bishops have lied about insecurity, let Bishop Adegbite tell us precisely what they lied about. If they exaggerated the suffering of Nigerians, show us where. If their intervention was politically motivated, establish it,” he said.

For Dalung, the central issue is not the denominational identity of the religious leaders involved but the principle of institutional independence and the responsibility of the Church to speak on matters affecting society.

He maintained that religious leaders should not be expected to moderate their criticism of government merely because a particular administration is in office.

“The Catholic Bishops have every right to question the government. Bishop Adegbite has every right to defend it. But Nigerians have the right to examine both sides,” he said.

The former minister also cautioned against a political culture in which criticism of government is automatically interpreted as opposition to the government itself, while support for government is equated with patriotism.

“A government should be able to survive criticism. A President should be able to hear uncomfortable truths. And religious leaders should be able to speak truth to power without being required to obtain clearance from the Presidency,” he said.

Dalung said the credibility of religious leadership is ultimately tested not by its willingness to praise those in power, but by its capacity to challenge them when necessary.

“I would have no problem with Bishop Adegbite praising Tinubu today if he believes Tinubu deserves praise,” he said.

“But I would be much more impressed if tomorrow, when Tinubu gets something fundamentally wrong, he can stand before that same government and say: ‘Mr President, on this matter, you are wrong.’

“That is where moral authority is tested. Not when you praise the powerful, but when you have the courage to correct them.”

Dalung said the Church should neither function as an extension of government nor as an opposition platform, but as an independent moral voice capable of holding power to account.

“The Church should not be a government department. It should not be an opposition party either. It should be the conscience of society,” he said.

He further argued that such independence should remain constant irrespective of the individual occupying the Presidency.

“The conscience of society must remain independent, whether the occupant of Aso Rock is Bola Tinubu, Muhammadu Buhari, Goodluck Jonathan or anyone else,” Dalung said.

Acknowledging his own political position as a member of the opposition, Dalung said he had a vested interest in ensuring that the Tinubu administration was subjected to scrutiny.

“I want this government questioned. I want it scrutinised. I want its claims tested,” he said.

But he added that the broader principle extended beyond partisan politics.

“I want every Nigerian, including our bishops and other religious leaders, to retain the courage to speak truth to power,” he said.

The former minister concluded by questioning whether the controversy was genuinely about the accuracy of the Catholic Bishops’ interventions or discomfort with their willingness to criticise those in authority.

“Are the Catholic Bishops really the problem because they criticised the government, or are we simply uncomfortable with anyone who refuses to tell power what it wants to hear?” he asked.

Dalung warned that a situation in which religious institutions become primarily concerned with defending government against criticism could have wider implications for public accountability and the credibility of the Church as an independent voice in Nigerian society.