BLASPHEMY IN THE NAME OF POLITICS:

We are Mechanics, Welders, Vulcanizers picked up at Eagle Square Car Park, Promised N100,000 each but shortchanged after APC unveiled TINUBU’S Vice Presidential Running Mate-FAKE Bishops Cry out

… Let them pay us our balance, the organisers brought us church leaders’ clothes to wear and assured us we’d be taken care of, we will spill the bean

*‘Those Fake bishops who appeared in a cassock to give Christian voters a false impression are criminals’-Christian Association of Nigeria

*“Criminal elements as clerics who attended the unveiling of Kashim Shettima as the running mate of Bola Tinubu should be arrested immediately”-Dr Paul Enenche, Senior Pastor of Dunamis International Gospel Centre

*“Clergies in Abuja who witnessed the unveiling of Kashim Shettima as Vice Presidential candidate to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu are not known big names in Christendom”-TINUBU Campaign

*BY TAMUNO DAVID/RELIGIOUS Correspondent, Abuja

FACTS have emerged how in desperation the All Progressives Congress, APC, to curry votes of the Christian community at all cost in view of the angst and outright condemnation that greeted the Muslim-Muslim ticket being paraded by the incumbent for the 2023 election, hired vulcanizers, welders, mechanics and presented then with church leaders’ clothing to wear, with a promise of N100,000 each after they must have appeared as a credence to the unveiling of Kashim Shettima being the chosen Vice Presidential candidate to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Sadly, these artisans are now crying out by insisting that they are being short-changed (not paid the promised amount).

One of the fake bishops apparently hired by Bola Tinubu’s campaign for the public presentation of Kashim Shettima as the vice presidential candidate of the ruling APC has narrated how he was paid for the appearance.

The imposter, who identified himself to Peoples Gazette as Joseph Odaudu, said Mr Tinubu’s hirelings broke a mutual agreement to be paid N100,000 for the shady job.

“They came to meet us at the car park behind Eagle Square and they promised to give me N100,000. They bought food for us and took us to another place where they gave us clothes to dress like Christian leaders and reverend fathers,” Mr Odaudu told The Gazette shortly after the event in Abuja on Wednesday. “But after we finished they only gave me N40,000 and another person said they got only N30,000. I don’t know why they changed our agreement because they said they had N100,000 for us.

“I am a Christian and I am supporting Tinubu but I hate when people lie and fail to deliver on their promises,” he added.

A spokesman for Mr Tinubu’s campaign did not immediately return a request seeking comment.

The fake bishops had appeared in a cassock to give Christian voters a false impression that Mr Tinubu’s decision to pick a Muslim northerner as his running-mate for the 2023 general election meant well for the country despite strong criticism from the Christian community and opinion leaders in the country.

The Catholic Church had described those who appeared at the event held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja as “impostors,” telling The Gazette the church had no representation at the event.

When asked if he knew that it was illegal to disguise as a Catholic bishop, Mr Odaudu insisted he didn’t break any laws.

“No law was broken, we only tried to show Nigerians that Christians are solidly behind Asiwaju Tinubu,” he added.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had kicked against the choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket and registered its opposition against the ruling decision of the ruling All Progressives Congress for the 2023 election.

Also, Christian leaders in the APC had repeatedly warned that the same religion ticket would spell doom for the party, following reactions and heavy criticism from Nigerians.

CAN disowns bishops at Shettima’s unveiling:

The Christian Association of Nigeria on Wednesday dissociated itself from Bishops who attended the unveiling of the vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Kashim Shettima, saying they were desperados who went there for themselves.

The organisation said that although the presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was free to “hire mechanics and other artisans and sew clerical garments for them”, that effort would only add to their many ropes but would not change the need for fairness and justice.

The Vice President of CAN (19 Northern States and Abuja) and its chairman in Kaduna State, Rev. Joseph John Hayab, said this in an interview with journalists in Abuja.

He said, “The people we saw at the unveiling of Shettima paraded as Bishops are people who did not have enough time to learn how to wear Bishop garments. Take a closer look at their photo and you will see another Nollywood movie.

“CAN wonders why the desperation. First, a story was out claiming to have come from the Chairman of CAN Borno state only to be refuted. Secondly, there was another lie that BAT (Bola Ahmed Tinubu) and his running mate were on their way to meet CAN President one night. A meeting that was not true and was on a night that the CAN President was in Alabama USA attending the Baptist World Alliance Conference of which he is the Vice President.

“Another desperation story was that they met Papa Adeboye which the RCCG later refuted. If Christians are not important, why the desperation?

“BAT is free to hire mechanics and other artisans and sew clerical garments for them. An effort that will only add to their many ropes when the political exercise is over but will not change the need for fairness and justice that CAN is calling for.

“CAN appreciate that we are in a democracy, no need to do funny and dubious things just to prove a point because it will in the end bounce back. The BAT team should simply do what is right and stop the drama.”

‘Bishops’ At Shettima’s Unveiling Should Be Arrested-Enenche

The Senior Pastor of Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Dr Paul Enenche, has called for the arrest of clerics who attended the unveiling of Kashim Shettima as the running mate of Bola Tinubu.

Shettima was on Wednesday unveiled as the vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress at an event in Abuja. The presence of some bishops and pastors at the event had raised claims of them being fakes, especially as the Christian Association of Nigeria also disowned the clerics.

In a video on his Facebook page on Friday, Enenche bashed the clerics and those  who brought them to he event.

He said, “You know there is a contest going on in this country right now where some criminals paraded themselves as bishops.

“That is the level to which the criminal leadership of this country has descended into. You see like begets like, those who sent them are like them. That is an impersonation of the highest order and they should be arrested and tried.”

Meanwhile, the Tinubu Campaign Organisation had refuted claims that the bishops and pastors were fake. 

TCO said, “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.”

Shettima’s unveiling: Tinubu campaign team insists ‘Clergies ‘re not big names in Christendom’:

Presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has insisted that the Clergies described as street urchins were Clergies that were not big yet in Christendom.

In a statement, Director, Media and Communication of the Tinubu Campaign Organization TCO, Bayo Onanuga described as “unwarranted distractions” the viral pictures and videos of some clergymen and women at the unveiling.

Onanuga, insisted 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”.

Part of the statement 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 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 making the desired improvements in the standard of living of our people.”

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