THE Tinubu Campaign Organisation (TCO) has said the clergymen at the unveiling of All Progressives Congress (APC) vice presidential candidate Kashim Shettima are not big names that are known by the general public.
Controversy has trailed the presence of the clergymen at the event, which held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja on Wednesday.
There are reports that the clergymen are fake and were hired to attend the event.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had disowned the clergymen, describing them as mechanics and artisans.
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Reacting to the development in a statement by the Director of Media and Public Relations Bayo Onanuga, the Tinubu Campaign Organisation insisted that the clergymen were upcoming Church leaders who believe in politics of peace and nation building.
“The Tinubu Campaign Organisation has described as unwarranted distractions the viral pictures and videos of some Christian clergymen and women at the unveiling of the All Progressives Congress Vice Presidential candidate, Senator Kashim Shettima, on Wednesday in Abuja.
“APC formally presented Senator Shettima to the public and its various organs as the running mate to the party’s presidential standard-bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, at the well-attended ceremony at Shehu Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.
“The TCO through its Director of Media and Communication, Mr. Bayo 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.
“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 Senator Shettima.”
The Tinubu Campaign Organisation added that 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 event.
“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 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 make the desired improvements in the standard of living of our people,” the statement added.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.