By Pascal Ibe

Introduction

A few weeks have passed since the rift between the Nigerian Catholic bishops and the presidency, but the discussion is yet to go away from social media.

It all started after Cardinal John Onaiyekan publicly disclosed that President Bola Tinubu disagreed with the bishops’ bleak assessment of national hardship and insecurity, drawing sharp rebukes from presidential aides.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, led by its President, Matthew Ndagoso, met with President Tinubu, during which it outlined areas of concern in the country, which include security, quality tertiary education and limited spaces, sustaining gains of democracy, credible elections, and poverty

In an interview with Arise TV on 31 July,  Onaiyekan, who was part of the delegation, recounted how the president argued with the delegation on the state of the nation.

However, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, described  Onaiyekan’s action as an abuse of privilege.

Claim

An image of the Nigerian Catholic bishops which claims to show the clergymen reporting Tinubu’s lack of commitment to tackle the unending insecurity in Nigeria to Pope Leo, has been circulating on many  Facebook and X pages recently.

On the X platform, a user, @timmosion (TIMMITOM) recent the image and claimed that “70 plus Nigerian bishops said to allegedly report Tinubu/APC to Pope.”

With over 7,000 views, the comments that followed the post suggested that many people were inquisitive to know if the claim is true.

A Facebook page, Brand TV, also posted the image, with a caption that reads, “More than 70 Nigerian bishops travelled to the Vatican for theirad liminapilgrimage, the mandatory visit made by diocesan bishops to meet the Holy Father approximately every five years. During the meetings, the bishops went beyond their official written reports to describe the worsening security crisis affecting both the Church and the wider population of Nigeria.”

With, a thousand reactions to the posts, many people who commented believed the claim.

Verification

The image was subjected to Google Lens and results indicated that the image and similar videos first appeared online in March 2026.

This was when the Nigerian Catholic bishops had a meeting with the Pope, which does NOT relate to the recent rift between them and the presidency.

Vanguard reported at the time that Pope Leo XIV met with the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria who are on their Ad Limina Apostolorum visit to Rome.

Ad Limina Apostolorum visit is a traditional pilgrimage in which Catholic bishops travel to Rome to meet the Pope and report on the pastoral situation and challenges of their dioceses.

A video shared on social media by the Vatican showed the bishop presenting gifts to the pope.

A group of 37 bishops earlier met the pope on March 6. A second group of 35 met the church’s leader on Saturday.

Pope Leo XIV was elected on May 8, 2025, and inaugurated on May 18, 2025. 

See video here

Also read this story here.

After the Catholic bishops -presidency rift,  the Federal Government reaffirmed respect for the Catholic Church and said that the “ongoing reforms” will ease hardship and deliver lasting economic gains..

At the moment, no report from any reputable news organisation in Nigeria corroborated the claim.

Verdict

FACTWATCHNigeria was able to establish that the image which is used to claim that Nigerian Catholic bishops reported Tinubu’s inability to address insecurity to the Pope is from March (five months ago). Therefore, this claim is MISLEADING.