Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity) to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Laolu Akande, on Wednesday, responded to the criticism trailing a report that the Aso Rock Villa Chapel has been relocated. Akande described the report as false, saying a “procedural adjustment” does not amount to relocation. Akande’s response came on the heels of social media backlash occasioned by an online report that President Muhammadu Buhari had relocated the chapel. The media aide said it was not fair to accuse the President of relocating the church when what happened was “the sorting out of procedural issues.” He insisted that it was baseless to assume that Buhari was hostile to Christians in the Presidential Villa.
“The claims that Buhari moved against Christian activities in Aso Rock Chapel have since been shown to be false. The sorting out of procedural issues cannot be a fair basis to accuse the President of moving against the chapel,” he tweeted.
“Speculations that Buhari moved against Christian activities at the Aso Villa Chapel is a blatant lie. I personally worshipped there on Sunday. Also, claims that the children service at the Aso Villa closed down is equally false. Please disregard the wild claims being reported.”
The fresh social media controversy followed a report that some hired Senegalese spiritualists had advised Buhari to close the chapel. The report claimed that the spiritualists objected to the continued existence of the religious centre, as it was said to be affecting their rites in the villa.
For several hours on Wednesday, bloggers and Buahri’s critics feasted on what many described as fresh facts on the status of the chapel. In fact, some social media users faulted the essence of the religious temples in the villa in the first place. According to them, there is no need for a mosque or a church in the villa.