CAN disowns bishops at unveiling of Tinubu’s running mate
…APC paraded people who didn’t have enough time to learn how to wear Bishop garments
…Take a closer look at their photo and you will see another Nollywood movie.
…Dares APC to mention bishops at Shettima’s unveiling,
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has dissociated itself from Bishops and pastors who attended the unveiling of the vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kashim Shettima, saying they were desperados who went there for they their stomachs.
CAN said on Wednesday 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.
Despite opposition from various interest and religious groups, including CAN, over the Muslim-Muslim ticket by the APC, pastors and bishops from different Christian denominations were present at the venue of the unveiling ceremony to the amazement of the journalists that were covering the event.
Various religious bodies had been reported to have urged Christian leaders to boycott the unveiling ceremony of Kashim Shettima as the APC vice presidential candidate to drive home the point of their grievances.
The Special Assistant on Media and Communications to the CAN President, Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, had a few weeks ago condemned the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket, saying “the Christian Association of Nigeria has stated it clearly that the situation in the country now is not suitable for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“It is up to Nigerians to accept or reject. Today’s Nigeria is not the same as when Nigerians voted Abiola-Kingibe ticket which was eventually annulled. Our prayers are with Nigeria and Nigerians.’’
Speaking today, 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. BAT team should simply do what is right and stop the drama.”
CAN challenged APC to mention its (CAN) officials who attended the unveiling of its vice presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima, by the flagbearer, Bola Tinubu.
Adebayo Oladeji, Special Assistant on Media and Communication to the President of CAN, Samson Ayokunle, threw the challenge in his short reaction sent to journalists in Abuja.
He said, “Let them name the CAN officials at the programme and their offices. If they could use 2017 photos to claim that some Pastors visited Shettima and lied that Pastor E. A Adeboye has endorsed them, they could do anything.