The presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has disclosed that the Bishops at the unveiling of his running mate, Kashim Shettima were not fake or hired.
The former Lagos Governor, in a statement by The Tinubu Campaign Organisation (TCO), said the viral videos and pictures of the clerics at the event were the handiworks of political distractors.
The group described as unwarranted distractions the viral pictures and videos of some Christian Bishops at Wednesday’s unveiling of Sen. Kashim Shettima,All Progressives Congress (APC) Vice-Presidential candidate in Abuja.
Mr Bayo Onanuga, Director, Media and Communication, Tinubu Campaign Organisation in a statement on Thursday, said the Bishops were not fake as was being speculated in the 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,” Onanuga said.
He added that at the unveiling, Tinubu and Shettima, and former Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti and Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Jigawa and 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.
He 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.
“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,” Onanuga stressed.