Pecohub 
Outspoken Catholic Priest, Ejike Mbaka, has said the former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, would never be president of Nigeria in 2023.
Mr Mbaka said the Labour Party (LB) presidential candidate is a “stingy man” and that it was better to have an “old generous man” as president than a “stingy young man”.
Mr Obi is the presidential candidate for the LP in the 2023 general election.
The cleric spoke during his weekly ministry service at the Adoration Ground in Enugu, on Wednesday.
“This hunger that is disturbing people and you said you want him? A stingy man, that cannot give people his money. You want to die of hunger? Are you people mad? Where is the Holy Spirit?
“It is now that Atiku (Abubakar) is contesting for president. Now that he is contesting without Peter Obi, it is now that he is serious. We want somebody that is serious. Unless Peter Obi comes here to kneel, if he becomes President, I will close down this ministry. He is going nowhere,”
Mr Mbaka said, according to a clip posted by BBC Igbo.
The cleric had criticised the former governor ahead of the 2019 presidential election, when Mr Obi, then a vice presidential candidate, declined the cleric’s request to make a donation to the ministry.
Mr Mbaka later issued an apology to the former governor for the verbal attacks.
But in his latest message, the cleric said he issued the apology to the former governor under duress and not on his volition.
He said he decided to speak up because Mr Obi’s campaign group had been using a video clip of the apology to score political points ahead of the 2023 election.
“No, I didn’t apologise wholeheartedly, it was out of duress. I had to obey my bishop. in obedience, I had to, it is not of my volition. I did it because I am a Catholic priest, my bishop said, do it, my own is ‘Yes my Lord’,” he said.
“Listen, a good old man is better than a young wicked man. Peter Obi is going nowhere as far as God lives. If Igbos want a representative, it is not someone like Peter Obi,” Mr Mbaka added.
He accused Mr Obi of desecrating the altar of God by declining to make donation when he was called to do so, insisting that Mr Obi must return to the ministry and make amends before he could taste victory at the polls.
He recalled that he had called Mr Atiku in 2019 and warned him to drop Mr Obi as his running mate for the election, if he wanted to win the election, but that Mr Atiku declined.
“I called Atiku after that apology, he was in Dubai. I told him that there is a revelation on your presidential election; that you are going to be the president of Nigeria on one condition, that Peter Obi is not going to be your running mate.
“(because) Peter Obi has incurred a curse to himself, which means that he is carrying a curse. If you want to be President, change him,” he said.
Mr Mbaka is known for attacking politicians who fall out of favour with him.
In 2015, during his New Year Message, the cleric had attacked the then President Goodluck Jonathan, in the build up to the Presidential election, declaring that Goodluck had become ‘bad luck’ and that he would give way for the then All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate, Muhammadu President, who later won the election, to become president.
Also, last year, Mr Mbaka, a known staunch supporter of Mr Buhari, had in a surprise move attacked the president, asking him to resign or be impeached for “bad governance”.
The presidency responded with an accusation that the priest was angry because his request for government contracts was rebuffed.
