Pastors At Shettima’s Unveiling Were ‘Not Big Names In Christendom’: Tinubu Responds

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Sen Bola Tinubu, Thursday, denied hiring fake pastors during his Wednesday’s unveiling of his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, in Abuja.

The media was agog that Tinubu hired fake Christian clergy to show that Christians support his Muslim-Muslim ticket. His choice of a Muslim as a running mate in the 2023 presidential election has come under criticisms.

Tinubu’s position was disclosed in a press statement issued by his campaign organization.

Bayo Onanuga, director, media and communication of the TInubu Campaign Organization, described the reports as ‘unwarranted distractions’

According to him, “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 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 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.”