BREAKING: Tinubu Opens Up on Identities of "Bishops" at Shettima’s Unveiling
- The Tinubu Campaign Organisation has reacted to the viral allegation that the clerics sighted at Shettima's unveiling were fake
- Bayo Onanuga, the director of media and communication, Tinubu Campaign Organisation, said the clergymen were not fake, noting that they are genuine church leaders
- Onanguga said though the clerics are not big names in Christendom yet, they are gradually building up their missions
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FCT, Abuja - The Tinubu Campaign Organisation has described as unwarranted distractions the viral pictures and videos of some Christian clergy at the unveiling of Senator Kashim Shettima as Bola Tinubu's running mate in Abuja on Wednesday, July 20.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had cast doubt on the authenticity of the clergymen, saying, “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."
Source: Twitter
Some Nigerians on social media also accused the APC presidential candidate of hiring the "bishops".
However, Bayo Onanuga, the director of media and communication, Tinubu Campaign Organisation, in a statement on Thursday, July 21, said the clergymen were not fake as was being speculated on social media, Daily Sun reported.
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He explained that Shettima's unveiling 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.
Clergymen at Shettima's unveiling are church leaders, Onanuga says
Contrary to CAN's allegation, Onanuga said the clergymen at Shettima's unveiling are church leaders who believe in politics is that is devoid of hatred and religious bigotry.
His words:
“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."
The Tinubu campaign spokesman insinuated that the allegations against the clergymen were sponsored by opposition parties.
“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,” Onanuga said.
2023: CAN rejects Tinubu’s choice of Muslim running mate
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that CAN rejected the selection of former governor of Borno state, Kashim Shettima as the running mate to the APC presidential candidate, Tinubu.
Speaking in an interview on Sunday, July 10, CAN’s spokesperson, Adebayo Oladeji, said making such a decision in a polarised country was a wrong move.
He stated that if having a pastor as the vice president of the country and Christian clerics and worshipers are being killed, the security of lives and properties of Christians under a Muslim-Muslim could not be guaranteed.
Source: Legit.ng
