By BONIFACE AKARAH

The Peter Obi Media Office (POMR) has urged President Bola Tinubu to heed the concerns raised by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), saying the clerics should be regarded as trusted whistleblowers who offer credible insights into the hardships facing Nigerians rather than being treated as political adversaries.

In a statement on Wednesday signed by its spokesman, Idris Zekeri Jnr, POMR said recent attempts by presidential aides to dismiss the bishops’ comments on the economy and insecurity reflected a dangerous tendency to isolate executive power from the realities confronting ordinary citizens. It argued that listening to the bishops was “not a political concession” but a necessary ingredient for effective governance.

“Dismissing the clerics’ assessment as partisan or alarmist is a tactical error. Listening to the episcopacy is not a political concession; it is vital to sound governance,” the statement said.

The Obi media office maintained that Catholic bishops possess one of the country’s most extensive grassroots networks, giving them firsthand knowledge of the economic hardship, insecurity and social challenges affecting citizens across both urban and rural communities.

“Unlike political appointees and state governors who often sanitise reports to protect their offices, bishops preside over vast, decentralised networks that reach deep into Nigeria’s rural and urban peripheries. From remote parishes to community healthcare centres, clerics absorb the daily economic pain, food insecurity, and quiet desperation of citizens long before these issues register in official economic indicators,” it stated.

According to POMR, leaders who rely solely on reports from political appointees risk operating within an echo chamber that downplays the real impact of government policies on the people.

“Power naturally creates an echo chamber. Advisers frequently tell leaders what they want to hear, emphasising macroeconomic metrics or reform milestones while glossing over human costs. Credible figures like Cardinal John Onaiyekan and Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso provide an unvarnished mirror, serving as an institutional check against presidential isolation,” the statement added.

The media office further argued that religious leaders often play a stabilising role during periods of national hardship by providing peaceful channels through which citizens can express their frustrations.

“Religious leaders act as critical shock absorbers in times of deep social anxiety. When bishops voice public frustration, they provide a constructive, peaceful channel for popular discontent. Rebuffing their warnings risks alienating a vital institutional bridge between an overstretched state and an increasingly exhausted populace,” it said.

POMR stressed that the bishops’ intervention should not be interpreted as an attack on the administration but as an effort to ensure that public policies reflect the lived realities of Nigerians.

“The pastoral warnings presented by the CBCN are not designed to undermine the administration but to anchor policy in the lived experiences of everyday Nigerians. For President Tinubu, treating the clergy as trusted whistleblowers instead of political adversaries is essential to bridging the gap between macroeconomic projections and the realities on the street,” the statement added.