The Tinubu Campaign Organisation has described as unwarranted distractions, the viral pictures and videos of some Christian clergy at Wednesday’s unveiling of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Vice-Presidential candidate, Sen. Kashim Shettima in Abuja.
DIPLOMATIC DIARY reported that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had on Tuesday described the presence of the clergymen in Bishops garments as an unprofessional nollywood script.
The Vice President of CAN (19 Northern States and Abuja) and its chairman in Kaduna State, Rev. Joseph John Hayab, during an interview with journalists in Abuja, had said the Presidential candidate of APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was free to “hire mechanics and other artisans and sew clerical garments for them.”
According to Hayab, “The people we saw at the unveiling of Shettima paraded as Bishops are people who did not have enough time to learn how to wear Bishop garments. Take a closer look at their photo and you will see another Nollywood movie.”
But in a statement on Thursday, Director, Media and Communication, Tinubu Campaign Organisation, Bayo Onanuga, said the clergymen were not fake as was being speculated on social media.
“The APC formally presented Sen. Shettima to the public and its various organs as the running mate of its 2023 presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, at a well-attended ceremony”, said Onanuga.
He added that at the unveiling,Tinubu, Shettima, Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Jigawa as well as the party’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, in their speeches, addressed fundamental issues of nation building.
This, he said, was the focus of the APC and its candidates with a view to ensuring a progressive and prosperous nation where all citizens could find joy and fulfilment.
Onanuga explained that the event was an open affair, which allowed members of the public to attend, including the clergymen and some others now being derided by hirelings of the opposition.
“We want to say that those clergymen were not fake, not mechanics or yam sellers as the purveyors of hatred have made Nigerians to believe in the social media.
“They are not big names in Christendom yet, they are gradually building up their missions.
“They are Church leaders who genuinely believe that Nigerians must eschew politics of hatred and religious bigotry and rather embrace politics of peace and nation building.
“We therefore deplore the hysterical twisting of the presence of these men and women in cassocks and the false accusation against our candidates, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Sen. Shettima”, Onanuga said.
He added that the orchestrated social media sensation over the presence of the clergymen was needless and all calculated to detract from the huge success recorded at the unveiling held at Yar’Adua Centre.
Onanuga expressed believe that Nigerians were however too wise and discerning to see through this shenanigan.
He assured that Tinubu, Shettima and the APC were working very hard to provide purposeful leadership and good progressive governance that would improve the quality of life of Nigerians.
According to Onanuga, “We are well aware that the opposition parties and the sponsors of the social media charade are jittery and threatened by the intimidating political credentials of our candidates.
“The only way they hope to shift attention of public scrutiny away from their uninspiring candidates and credentials is to create social media distraction.
“Our campaign is determined on focusing on core governance issues that affect Nigerians with a view to confronting them and make the desired improvements in the standard of living of our people.”
