We did not hire fake clergymen to attend Shettima’s unveiling –Tinubu Campaign office
The Tinubu Campaign Organisation has denied hiring fake clergymen to attend 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 clergymen were church leaders who might not be well known but were genuine.
Onanuga said former Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi, and the party’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, in their speeches, addressed fundamental issues of nation building.
He said the noise about fake clergymen was being sponsored to detract from the seriousness of the occasion and the issues discussed at the event.
He said the focus of APC and its candidates was ensuring a progressive and prosperous nation where all citizens could find joy and fulfilment.
Onanuga said everyone was allowed to attend the event, including the clergymen and some others now being derided by people hired by 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 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.
“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 Nigerians with a view to confronting them and make the desired improvements in the standard of living of our people,” Onanuga stressed.
