An Unveiling Tainted by Controversy

CICERO/Issues

Last Wednesday, the ruling All Progressives Congress officially unveiled the former Governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima, as the running mate of its presidential candidate, Senator Bola Tinubu.  Adedayo Akinwale reports that the unveiling was not without drama as the event was overshadowed by the controversy over the rented ‘clerics’ who graced the occasion

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) last Wednesday formally presented the former Governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima as the running mate to the presidential candidate of the party, Senator Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election.

The unveiling, however, was not without drama as some clergymen allegedly hired by the party graced the occasion to give endorsement to the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the party. 

This political miscalculation by the APC generated a lot of reactions from Nigerians who described the action as desperate.

Apparently worried by the reactions that trailed the Muslim-Muslim ticket, the ruling party hired the unknown Bishops, priests and pastors to attend the unveiling ceremony.

One of the clerics at the event who identified himself as Joseph Odaudu claimed that Tinubu’s handlers broke a mutual agreement to pay him N100,000 for the 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. 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,” Odaudu was reportedly quoted as saying.

However, political analysts were of the view that the ruling party and its presidential candidate did not need the presentation of real or imagined Christian clergymen during the unveiling of Shettima to prove that Christians endorsed the ticket.

They added that for the APC to have gone through that path was an indication that the ruling party acknowledged the fact that a Muslim-Muslim ticket was wrong. They added that he should be firm with his decision.

They argued that a pastor has been a Vice President for seven years and yet more Christians were killed in these last seven years than in the previous 15 years put together.

Nevertheless, the Vice President of CAN (19 Northern States and Abuja) and its chairman in Kaduna State, Rev. Joseph Hayab has described the Bishops who attended the official unveiling of Shettima as selfish desperados.

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’s garments. Take a closer look at their photo and you will see another Nollywood movie. BAT (Bola Ahmed Tinubu) 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,” he said.

On his part, a legislative consultant and public affairs commentator, Mr. Akinloye Oyeniyi told THISDAY that while a group of religious or traditional leaders can be invited to such an event by all candidates, what happened at the unveiling of Shettima was a pathetic one and willing degradation of Christianity by those who orchestrated such embarrassment.

He explained that he didn’t  think APC had to get so desperate to show the Muslim-Muslim ticket was supported by Christians. 

His words: “We have been told Shettima was picked because of competence; why then now trying so hard to justify the fears of the majority of Nigerians? Public reactions are already identifying those participants who were hired to appear as Christian leaders, so to portray endorsement of the thoroughly condemned Muslim-Muslim ticket of Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Shettima. 

“Candidates have been unveiling their running mates and none has ever been this messy, desperate and embarrassing to any religion. I advise the party to find a cordial and reasonable way to sell its ticket and stop hiding behind a finger,” he added.

In its reaction, the support group of the vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Dr. Datti Ahmed, described it as blasphem

Tweeting through a verified handle of the  support group @YusufDattiGroup, it said: “Even as a Muslim, I know that a married woman cannot become a Bishop. What APC did today is blasphemy.”

In his submission, one Onwuasoanya Jones wrote on his Facebook page that both Tinubu and APC  wanted to tell the world that anybody could be bought in the market and that there was nothing  spectacular about Christians or their clergy.

He posited that for a man who unapologetically tells everyone that he searched across the length and breadth of northern Nigeria and couldn’t find one qualified or credible Christian to make his running mate, nothing he does or says about Christians should surprise anyone anymore.

Jones pointed out that Tinubu has invested every effort he could, trying to make Nigerians understand and accept that religion doesn’t matter in the choice of those who rule over the country, adding, “but at every turn, he guards his Islamic faith jealousy and makes no pretences about his disdain for Christianity and anything connected to the Christian religion.”

He added: “The pictures of these agberos, probably hired from one motor park in Lagos and transported to Abuja wasn’t an attempt to show that the deadly Muslim-Muslim ticket has the endorsement of some Christian clergy, but a well-designed attempt to ridicule Christianity. Tinubu and his party deliberately wanted to demonstrate their thinking about Christianity.

“To them, Christians are not better than motor park touts and probably some urchins on the streets of Abuja. That’s the only reason you saw them pick up some never-do-wells from wherever and dress them in the most cherished and respected robes in Christianity. Didn’t you see how they allowed those haggard looking individuals to loiter around the event place like some straying cattle and unwanted guests? Did you see any Islamic cleric walking aimlessly around the event venue? Yet, there were many of them at the venue. But, care was taken to ensure that they are well taken care of. They were given the best sitting positions and transported in the most exotic cars.”

After much public outcry, the Tinubu Campaign Organisation (TCO)  said  the unveiling of the  Shettima was an open event which allowed members of the public to attend, including the  clergymen.

The TCO through its Director of Media and Communication, Mr. Bayo Onanuga in a statement issued Thursday justified the presence of the hired impostors, describing them described as some Christian clergymen and women.

TCO obviously ridiculed Christianity and shocked many Nigerians when it argued that the impostors are genuine Church leaders, who are gradually building up their missions.

It said the orchestrated social media sensation over the presence of the men was needless and all calculated to detract from the huge success recorded at the momentous event. 

The campaign team said it was aware that the opposition parties and the sponsors of the social media charade are jittery and threatened by the intimidating political credentials of Tinubu and Shettima, adding that the only way they hope to shift attention of public scrutiny away from their uninspiring candidates and credentials was to create social media distraction.

It 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. 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, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Shettima.”

As political parties approach the campaign season, Tinubu and his campaign team should stay out of embarrassing controversy that may diminish his chances at the presidential poll.