By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Tribune OnlineTribune OnlineTribune Online
  • Home
  • News
  • Columns
  • Editorial
  • VIDEOS
  • Entertainment
  • Politics
  • Health
  • Opinions
  • SPORTING TRIBUNE
Reading: APC chieftain tackles Babachir Lawal over Tinubu’s Vatican visit
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Tribune OnlineTribune Online
Font ResizerAa
  • Home
  • News
  • Columns
  • Editorial
  • VIDEOS
  • Entertainment
  • Politics
  • Health
  • Opinions
  • SPORTING TRIBUNE
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Advertise
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
© 2025 African Newspapers of Nigeria Plc.. All Rights Reserved.
Politics

APC chieftain tackles Babachir Lawal over Tinubu’s Vatican visit

Israel Arogbonlo
May 22, 2025
Share
N544m grass-cutting scam
SHARE

President Bola Tinubu’s former campaign spokesperson in the South-East, Dr Josef Onoh has taken a swipe at the former Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF), Babachir Lawal for making “uncomplimentary remarks” on the President’s attendance of Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration in Rome, last week.

Lawal had in a television interview, on Wednesday, criticized President Tinubu for attending the Pope’s inauguration as a Muslim, recalling that he (Lawal) was vehemently against Tinubu’s choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket during the 2023 presidential election.

But Onoh picked holes in Lawal’s interview, describing the former SGF as an ignorant Christian whose lack of knowledge on interfaith ecumenism has exposed him to ridicule.

Educating Babachir Lawal, Onoh recalled to him several times that the heads of Islam in different countries had paid visits to the Pontiff and vice versa when different Popes had engaged Islamic leaders in inter-religious dialogue which in some cases the Pope went into mosques.

Onoh mocked the former SGF, telling Lawal that he could not be more Catholic than the Pope who was aware that President Tinubu is a Muslim but invited him for the inauguration, highlighting religious diplomacy and showcasing Nigeria’s commitment to pluralism and mutual respect aimed at fostering peace and cooperation across religious divides.

Onoh said that the Vatican inauguration visit aligned with President Tinubu’s domestic policies on inclusivity, which the president advocated during and after his political campaigns.

“Sadly, playing a Holy Roller, Babachir Lawal failed to acknowledge such a historic moment, potentially the first of its kind for a Muslim Nigerian head of state at such an event. Since Tinubu’s visit to Rome is an insult to Christianity, according to Babachir Lawal, why was Babachir Lawal silent on September 13, 2024, when the late Pope Francis stated in Singapore that all religions are paths to reach God and that they are like different languages to arrive at God. But God is God for everyone except for Babachir Lawal,” Onoh mocked.

He further recalled that the late Pope Francis in 2019 while in Morocco stated that God allows different religions as part of his ‘permissive will’, encouraging dialogue among faiths, while Pope John Paul II became the first pope to visit a mosque, specifically the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, on May 6, 2001.

Onoh further recalled that Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar visited Pope Francis at a dialogue and peace meeting at the Vatican on May 23, 2016, marking a significant step in Catholic-Muslim relations after tensions that followed Pope Benedict XVI’s 2006 Regensburg speech.

“Why was Babachir Lawal silent when Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar invited Pope Francis to the United Arab Emirates, leading to the Pope’s historic visit in February 2019, the first by a Pope to the Arabian Peninsula where they signed the document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together in Abu Dhabi, promoting interfaith harmony and rejecting violence.

“Why was Babachir Lawal silent when Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, met Pope Francis again in 2018 at the Vatican for a private meeting, reinforcing their commitment to interreligious dialogue? Why was Babachir Lawal silent when Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar of Istiqlal Mosque hosted Pope Francis in Jakarta, Indonesia, on September 5, 2024, at the Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia. They signed the ‘Joint Declaration of Istiqlal 2024,’ advocating religious harmony.”

Going further down memory lane, Onoh brought up the peace meeting and Pope’s first visit to Iraq where he met Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf, Iraq on March 6, 2021; recalling also the 2001 mutual forgiveness and dialogue visit of Pope John Paul II to the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria,

“Why was Babachir Lawal silent when Dr. Yassine Lafram, President of Union of Islamic Communities of Italy (UCOII) met with Pope Leo XIV (Pope Francis’s successor) on May 20, 2025, at the Vatican to discuss the Gaza crisis, calling for a papal visit to address humanitarian concerns. But today, Babachair Lawal is now talking like a religious grass cutter intoxicated by adulterated holy water just because President Tinubu, a Muslim, was invited to the Vatican.

“May we continue to pray to always find ourselves religiously sober than intoxicated in a pious manner, like Babachir Lawal whose comment on President Tinubu is now an embarrassment not to Christianity but to himself which led him in his grey hair and old age to speak like a sophisticated rhetorician inebriated by the exuberance of his own verbosity,” Onoh lambasted.

ALSO READ STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE


WATCH TOP VIDEOS FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE TV

  • Back to School, Back to Business A Fresh Start

  • Relationship Hangout: Public vs Private Proposals – Which Truly Wins in Love?

  • “No” Is a Complete Sentence: Why You Should Stop Feeling Guilty

  • Relationship Hangout: Friendship Talk 2025 – How to Be a Good Friend & Big Questions on Friendship

  • Police Overpower Armed Robbers in Ibadan After Fierce Struggle


    Get real-time news updates from Tribune Online! Follow us on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive stories and interviews, and much more.
    Join our WhatsApp Channel now


TAGGED:Babachir LawalJosef OnohTinubuVatican
Share This Article
Facebook Email Print
Previous Article Lagos building collapse Experts blame building collapses on poor regulation
Next Article Jigawa govt trains 1,690 public school teachers on digital tools Jigawa govt trains 1,690 public school teachers on digital tools

Frontpage Today

Subscribe to e-Paper

E-Vending, e paper, pdf, e-paper, Tribune
WOMEN

Xquisite
Xquisite Food
Xquisite Style
Wondrous World of Women

MORE

Business Coach
Education
Event Digest
Crime & Court
Do It Yourself
Ecoscope
Property & Environment
Energy
Maritime
Aviation
Brands & Marketing
Agriculture
Info Tech
Labour
Leadership & Management
Achievers
Arewa Live
Arts & Culture
Arts & Reviews
Campus Beat
Politics
Health News
MORE

Mum & Child
Natural Health
Sexuality & Health
Special Report
Sports
Tourism
Travelpulse & MICE
Tribune Business
Weekend Lagos
Youth Speak
Book Review
Thursday Tales
EDITORIAL

Editorial
Opinion
Letters
News Extra

BUSINESS

Capital Market
Money Market
Economy

ENTERTAINMENT

Friday Treat
Entertainment
Razzmattaz

REGIONS

South West
Niger Delta
Arewa

RELIGION

Tribune Church
Church News
Muslim Sermon
Eye of Islam
Islamic News

COLUMNS

Anike's Diary
Aplomb
Ask The Doctor
Autoclinic With The Mechanic
Awo's Thought
Borderless
Crucial Moment
Empowered For Life
Festus Adebayo's Flickers
Financewise
Gibbers
Intimacy
Language & Style
Leaders' Forum
Leadership & Management
Lynx Eye
Monday Lines
Mum & Child
Natural Health
Notes from Atlanta with Farooq Kperogi
On The Lord's Day
PENtagon
Political Panorama
Veritatem With Obadiah Mailafia
Voice of Courage
Whatsapp Conversation
You and Eye
Your Life Counts

© 2025 African Newspapers of Nigeria Plc. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?