Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Diocese of Abuja, Cardinal Onaiyekan, has stated that Nigeria’s bishops have no intention of taking over the government.

Onaiyekan made this clarification on Thursday when he featured in an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’.

He, however, accused members of the National Assembly of not representing the interest of the people.

“We are no longer sure our representatives in the National Assembly represent us, the people. The priorities they set and the decisions they take do not show that they represent us.

“Nigeria’s bishops have no intention of taking over the government. If anything is driving us, it’s purely the love of our nation.

“We have what we consider as a prophetic role. We are simply speaking for the people and speaking truth to power. We don’t speak carelessly but we are not afraid to voice out the truth in clear terms.

“This is not to pull down anyone but to let people know that this is what us facing us. I have been in this country for 82 years, 60 of them I was quite aware of what was happening.

“I’m not the only one who is feeling that. But this is not the country we were living in before. This country is worse than it was before,” the cleric said.