CAN Accuses Tinubu Of Hiring “Bishops” To Shettima’s Unveiling 

According to CAN, Tinubu and the APC have been scrambling to secure Christians’ support for the Muslim-Muslim ticket.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is accused by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) of having phony bishops attend the announcement of Kashim Shettima as his running mate in the general election of 2023.

Some individuals were seen wearing Catholic bishop attire during the Shettima unveiling event in Abuja on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, which tends to support the APC’s decision to run a single-faith presidential ticket.

The Vice President of CAN (19 Northern States and Abuja) and its chairman in Kaduna State, Rev. Joseph John Hayab, responded to the situation by denouncing the Bishops who attended the ceremony as desperate individuals who were on a self-seeking mission.

According to the religious organization, the guys who were seen wearing religious attire were mechanics and other craftsmen who the APC presidential candidate had reportedly hired and paid to create clerical clothing.

The group said that this was the latest attempt by the APC and Tinubu to deceive Nigerian Christians into supporting the Muslim-Muslim ticket, but emphasized that this would not affect the necessity for justice and fairness.

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.

“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. BAT team should simply do what is right and stop the drama.”

Some notable Nigerians and proponents of religion have accused Tinubu and the APC of being insensitive to the country’s religious diversity by putting out a single faith ticket for the February 2023 presidential election.