Tinubu Debunks Employing Clerics at Shettima’s Unveiling

During the unveiling of his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, on Wednesday in Abuja, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC), hit back at those who accused his team of employing street urchins and dressed them as Christian clergy.

Tinubu, in a statement through his campaign organisation, said the event was open to all, including clergymen.

Director of Media and Communication for Tinubu Campaign Organization TCO, Bayo Onanuga, also referred to the widely shared images and videos of some clergymen and women at the unveiling as “unwarranted distractions,” accusing the opposition of capitalising on the event to incite needless attacks against APC.

Onanuga said, “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”.

Part of the statement reads;

“We want to say that those clergymen were not fake, not mechanics or yam sellers as the purveyors of hatred have made Nigerians believe in the social media. They are not big names in Christendom yet, and 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 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.

“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 the 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 all Nigerians with a view to confronting them and making the desired improvements in the standard of living of our people.”