Gov. Lalong to apologise over reference to Pope

suspend Governor Lalong from the Catholic Church.

Angry members of the Roman Catholic Church yesterday condemned Governor Simon Lalong’s reference to the Pope in defence of his acceptance to serve as Director-General of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential Campaign Council for the 2023 election.

But the governor in a swift reaction yesterday, said his reference to the Pope was a mark of reverence, not ridicule as perceived by some Nigerians.

These came on a day Catholic Bishops of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province expressed concern over the high level of misery, pessimism, activities of violent people, unemployment and suffering in Nigeria.

This is even as Catholic Bishops, under the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, SECAM, bemoaned the upsurge of insecurity in Africa and appealed for intervention by foreign forces to put an end to the menace.

It will be recalled that the Plateau governor had backed the idea of Muslim-Muslim ticket after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at State House in Abuja.

He stated that, as a Catholic with the highest Papal award of Knight of Saint Gregory, the Pope had not told him what he was doing was wrong. But miffed by Lalong’s comment, the Catholic faithful berated him for dragging the Holy Father into the country’s murky politics and the unsavoury rhetorics of the 2023 election.

While briefing journalists in Abuja, under the aegis of Concerned Catholics in Nigeria, the religious denomination insisted that Governor Lalong must tender an unreserved apology for the global embarrassment his ‘unguarded’ remarks caused the Pope and the entire Church.

President of the group, Dr Ben Amodu, vowed that the Catholic community in Nigeria would ensure that the governor was made to atone for his public “blasphemous statement” about the Pope and the Church.

Amodu said: “We are alarmed that Governor Simon Bako Lalong would elect to throw caution into the wind by dragging the revered Catholic Church into local politics in Nigeria for whatever it is worth.

However, following the backlash that has trailed his comment, the Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong, yesterday explained that his reference to the Pope was a mark of reverence, and not meant to ridicule him. He lamented that part of what he said in the interview he granted in Abuja was used as “propaganda by politicians.”

In a statement issued in Jos by Makut Macham, his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Governor Lalong said he has the highest regard for Christians and Church Authority and will continue to work hard in promoting the interests of Christians and adherents of other religions.

“Governor, Simon Lalong has said that contrary to insinuations and misconceptions being imputed into his interview granted to State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa where he explained that as a Catholic and a Papal Knight, the Pope has not told him that accepting the position of Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council was wrong, the statement was out of reverence and not disregard for the Holy Father, Catholic Church or Christianity.

“It was unfortunate that part of the interview has been excised and used by politicians for propaganda and misinformation about his personality, faith and political persuasion

“He said his reference to the Holy Father, the Pope, was to emphasise that as a Christian born and raised in the Catholic faith, accepting the assignment given to him by his party, the APC, of which I am a founding member does not in any way remove his faith in Jesus Christ or my commitment to the Church in Nigeria and universally.