Buea Priest Apologizes to Bishop Bibi After Years of Rift Over CUIB Management

Rev. Fr. George Jingwa Nkeze, former President of the Catholic University Institute of Buea (CUIB), has formally apologized to Bishop Michael Bibi, acknowledging his failure to fully comply with the Bishop’s directives as his local ordinary.

The apology, dated February 6, 2026, and acknowledged by Bishop Bibi in a July 29 pastoral letter, comes nearly six years after a bitter dispute over the leadership of CUIB first erupted in 2020.

At that time, the newly-appointed Bishop Bibi appointed History Professor Victor Julius Ngoh as President of CUIB, replacing Fr. Nkeze, who had been on a sabbatical leave in the USA.

The decision was met with strong resistance. Members of the University Council disapproved of the change and took Bishop Bibi to court. According to Bishop Bibi, Fr. Nkeze resisted handing over CUIB property, including bank accounts for which he was a signatory.

The Bishop also stated that CUIB was being “run as a private estate” and that he received no accounts from the institution, unlike other diocesan bodies that submitted monthly financial reports.

The dispute attracted significant attention within the Church, with the Bishops of the Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province expressing solidarity with Bishop Bibi and condemning the “disobedience and damage caused to the local Church”.

In his February 2026 letter, Fr. Nkeze wrote: “I write with a humble heart to express my sincere apology for my failure to fully abide by the directives you gave me as my local ordinary. As a priest incardinated in the Diocese of Buea, I recognize my obligation to live in obedience to you and to observe the directives you have established for Priests under your Pastoral Care.”

Bishop Michael Bibi acknowledged receiving the apology letter on July 29 in a pastoral letter addressed to institutions and Christians of the Diocese of Buea.

“I wish to inform you that I have received a letter of apology from Rev. Fr. George Jingwa Nkeze, dated February 6, 2026, in which he sincerely acknowledges his failures to comply fully with the directives I gave him as his Bishop,” Mgr Bibi wrote.

The apology is hoped to bring to rest a dispute that shook the Buea Diocese and nearly turned the former Bishop Emmanuel Bushu and Bishop Michael Bibi into enemies.

Bishop Bibi has informed the clergy, religious, and lay faithful of the Diocese of Buea that he will give his reply to the apology “after due reflection”.