The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), Bishop Prof. Stephen Adegbite, has urged the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) to exercise restraint in the frequency of its visits to President Bola Tinubu, arguing that no single bloc within the Christian community should appear to dominate engagements with the Presidency.
Speaking during an interview FROM 2:08 on TVC News on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, Adegbite said religious leaders have every right to visit the President, describing such engagements as normal and beneficial. However, he expressed concern that the Catholic bishops had met with President Tinubu twice within the past twelve months.
“Religious leaders have the right to visit the Presidency, and Mr. President in particular, and that will not be the first time. But I think the Catholic bishops need to exercise some restraint, because in the last twelve months or thereabouts, that will be the second time they’ll be visiting Mr. President,” he said.
Adegbite pointed out that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) comprises five blocs, with the Catholic Church being only one of them. According to him, other Christian bodies, including the Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN), the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), the Organisation of African Instituted Churches (OAIC), and TEKAN/ECWA, also represent significant segments of the Christian population and should equally have opportunities to engage with the nation’s leadership.
He stressed that interactions between religious leaders and government are legitimate but should reflect the diversity of the Christian community and promote unity among the various church blocs.
The bishop’s remarks come amid public debate over the recent visit of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria to President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, a meeting that has generated widespread discussion over the relationship between religious leaders and political authorities.