Former CAN President Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor has staunchly defended ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s legacy, described Tinubu’s administration as the most damaging in Nigeria’s history, and bluntly advised the president to abandon any second-term ambitions.
Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, had plenty to say — and he said all of it without flinching
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, as reported by Vanguard, the outspoken cleric pushed back hard against long-standing criticisms of former President Goodluck Jonathan, particularly allegations that insecurity and corruption defined his tenure. His argument? The loudest critics then are the biggest power-holders now — and Nigeria is worse for it.
“Where are those people now? Are they not the same people today who are in power?” Oritsejafor asked pointedly. “People who called him clueless, but they wouldn’t allow him to do the things he needed to do. They protested against him all over the place in Lagos especially, and across the country.”
He went further, accusing those who bankrolled the anti-Jonathan protests of now occupying the very seats of government they once raged against. “Now, the people who sponsored all those protests, who did a lot of all those things, many of them are the people in power today. So, now they have the clue, but look at where Nigeria is now.”
Asked if he regretted backing Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election, his answer was short and sharp: “No, I don’t.”
Then came the Tinubu verdict — and it wasn’t pretty. Oritsejafor didn’t mince words about the current administration, saying it had not only failed to fix Nigeria’s problems but actively deepened them. “The government of Tinubu has done more harm to this nation than this nation has ever experienced,” he declared.
While stopping short of joining calls for the president’s resignation, Oritsejafor served up a stinging alternative message. “I would not sit here categorically and tell him resign. But I think what I would say to him is, look, don’t pretend to know what to do when you don’t know what to do. Don’t pretend that you can take Nigeria out of where it is now, when you know you can’t.”
The cleric also took aim at the administration’s signature “Renewed Hope” slogan, arguing it rings hollow for millions of struggling Nigerians. “The average Nigerian today has no hope, except if you say you look up to God to give you hope,” he said.
His closing message to the president was perhaps his bluntest yet — stay away from 2027. “Don’t begin to dream of coming back to continue this same mess.”
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