By The Tinubu Campaign Organisation has said the Christian clergymen who were spotted at the unveiling of Senator Kashim Shettima as the vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are not fake.
Pictures of the clerics, who attended the event held in Abuja on Wednesday, had surfaced on social media, and sparked outrage from Nigerians who accused the ruling party of hiring fake bishops to create the impression that the Christian community embraced the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had also disowned the “bishops”, saying the supposed clerics looked like Nollywood actors.
However, the Tinubu Campaign Organisation argued that the event was an open affair which allowed members of the public to attend, including the clergymen.
In a statement on Thursday signed by its Director of Media and Communication, Bayo Onanuga, the group said the clergymen are not fake, rather they are “small” names in Christendom who 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,” the statement read in part.
“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 Senator Shettima.
“The orchestrated social media sensation over the presence of the men is needless and all calculated to detract from the huge success recorded at the momentous event on Wednesday.
“We believe Nigerians are too wise and discerning to see through this shenanigan. Asiwaju Tinubu and his running mate and our great party are working very hard to provide purposeful leadership and good progressive governance that will improve the quality of life of Nigerians.”
Onanuga also accused the opposition parties of sponsoring a social media distraction “to shield their uninspiring candidates from public scrutiny”.
