The Tinubu Campaign Organisation on Thursday denied claims suggesting that the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, hired fake clerics for the unveiling of his running mate, Kashim Shettima.
This was disclosed in a statement through the Director, Media and Communication of the TCO, Bayo Onanuga, on Thursday following the accusation from the Christain Association of Nigeria that Tinubu hired clerics to grace the venue.
Tinubu on Wednesday unveiled his running mate, the former Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, the event which witnessed the presence of Christian clerics.
CAN had boycotted the event following their rejection of the Muslim-Muslim ticket floated by the ruling party.
Accusing the opposition of cashing in on the development to stir unnecessary attacks, the Tinubu campaign organisation described the accusation of the clergymen present at the event as “unwarranted distractions”.
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”.
The partly reads, “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 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 make the desired improvements in the standard of living of our people.”
