By Jide Orintunsin, Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja and Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt
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The Tinubu Campaign Organisation (TCO) has said all the clerics at the unveiling of Senator Kashim Shettima as the running mate to All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, are real church leaders.
APC formally presented Shettima to the public as the running mate to Asiwaju Tinubu at a well-attended ceremony at Shehu Yar’Adua Centre on Wednesday in Abuja.
Reacting to viral pictures and videos of some Christian clerics and women at the event in Abuja, TCO’s Director of Media and Communication, Bayo Onanuga, described the social media mislabeling of the clerics as unwarranted distractions.
The statement noted that at the event, Asiwaju Tinubu and Senator Shettima, as well as Governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) and Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi) with APC National Chairman Abdullahi Adamu addressed fundamental issues of nation-building.
The statement reads: “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 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.”
Also, a northern support group, the Northern Emancipation Network (NEN), has declared its support for the Asiwaju Tinubu and Senator Shettima ticket.
A communiqué read by its Coordinator, Suleiman Abdul-Azeez, said: “We have resolved to undertake the vital task of campaigning and sensitising Nigerian voters on the futility of entrusting the responsibility of addressing the fundamentals of our national existence through the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which, in the first 16 years of the inception of this dispensation, ran an administration that had acquired the reputation of being the worst in the history of our nation, in terms of any capacity to generate confidence in achieving credible national goals.”
Also, wife of Kaduna State governor, Hajiya Asia El-Rufai, has urged APC to reserve the position of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) for a woman in the anticipated Tinubu/Shettima administration in 2023.
The governor’s wife spoke at the celebration of Asiwaju Tinubu by APC Professional Women Council yesterday in Abuja.
She also said the positions of the Minister of Health, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Deputy Chief of Staff (DCoS) to the President, should be reserved for women.
Also, a chieftain of APC in Rivers State, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, promised to begin a massive grassroots mobilisation for Asiwaju Tinubu and Shettima across the state.
The former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), who spoke on recent developments in APC Rivers, said he remained committed to the party, its leadership and candidates.