Controversial Catholic priest, Ejike Mbaka, has more troubles to deal with as a former aide to President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, has petitioned the Vatican, requesting the Catholic Pope to investigate him.
Mr Omokri’s petition follows the accusation by the Nigerian presidency that the priest was a disgruntled contract-seeker.
Mr Mbaka, who once fraternised, campaigned for the election and re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari recently called for the president’s impeachment over the rising insecurity in the country.
But the presidency hit back at Mr Mbaka, saying the priest was angry with Mr Buhari because the president ignored his request for contracts.
Mr Omokri, a well-known critic of President Buhari, said in an open letter to Pope Francis that Mr Mbaka, based on the claim by the Nigerian government, has acted in a manner “unethical and unbecoming of a Catholic priest.”
He also accused the priest of making false allegations against Mr Jonathan when the latter was Nigeria’s president.
Mr Omokri urged the Pope to investigate Mr Mbaka and “take proper measures to ensure that there is discipline within the Catholic Church in Nigeria.”
Read Mr Omokri’s open letter below:
Open Letter To Pope Francis: Re Father Mbaka
Pope Francis
The Vatican
Open Letter To Pope Francis
Re: Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka
Your Holiness,
You may or may not have heard of a certain Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka, a Catholic priest in Enugu, Nigeria, who has left the calling he took holy oaths to abide by, to dabble disastrously in politics.
At various times between the years 2015-2016, this fellow made public pronouncements to the effect that God had told him that He was displeased with and had departed from Nigeria’s then President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
He then claimed that God had told him that his opponent, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) was (and these are his exact words, not mine) “an answer to prayer”, a man who would “save” Nigeria, a “liberator” of Nigeria, and the “glory” of Nigeria.
He also in the year 2015 made false allegations against Mr. Jonathan, to the effect that Mr. Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, wanted to assassinate him.
That I am willing to make an oath on a sworn affidavit that that allegation is false, and that at the material time when he made that allegation, I called on Reverend Mbaka to substantiate them with evidentiary proof, of which he never did.
That again in 2019, after Nigerians had gone through so much hardship under the said Major General Buhari, a man of very strong religious bias, Reverend Mbaka made pronouncements to the effect that Nigerians should continue with Buhari, after he had publicly humiliated a fellow Catholic, Peter Obi, on December 3, 2019, for failing to make a public donation, and called him “stingy” and said “the way you and Atiku are moving will end in shame.”
It should be noted that Father Mbaka’s actions go against 2 Corinthians 9:7:
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
And then when Father Mbaka made a volte face on April 29, 2021, asking his former friend, and now President Buhari, to resign, the President’s spokesmen revealed the next day that Reverend Mbaka had requested for contracts as pecuniary compensation for his support for Mr. Buhari, and when this was not acceded to, he went rogue.
Your Holiness, By virtue of the Public Procurement Act of 2007, it is a criminal offence to demand and get a government contract without an open public and transparent tender. To legally get a contract in Nigeria, you must tender publicly, and the government must accept the lowest bid. Anything short of that is not just criminal, it is also unethical and unbecoming of a Catholic priest.
In the opinion of many Nigerians, Reverend Father Mbaka has brought the Catholic Church into disrepute, and undermined the faith of the faithful, by his conduct.
I therefore call on Your Holiness to investigate this matter, and take proper measures to ensure that there is discipline within the Catholic Church in Nigeria.
Reno Omokri
