The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, hired some fake Bishops to attend the unveiling of Kashim Shettima as his running mate in the 2023 general election.
At the event organised to unveil Shettima in Abuja on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, some men were spotted dressed in Catholic Bishop outfits, which tends to lend some validation to the choice of a single faith presidential ticket of the APC.
Reacting to the development, the Vice President of CAN (19 Northern States and Abuja) and its chairman in Kaduna State, Rev. Joseph John Hayab, disowned the Bishops who attended the event, describing them as desperados who were on a self-seeking expedition.
The religious body added that those men spotted in religious garbs were mechanics and other artisans allegedly hired and sewn clerical garments by the APC Presidential candidate.
It said this move was the latest plot by the APC and Tinubu to manipulate Nigerian Christians into accepting the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Hayab 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.
“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. BAT team should simply do what is right and stop the drama.”
