The presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has countered accusations by critics who accused his campaign team of hiring street urchins to pose as Christian clerics at the unveiling of his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, in Abuja on Wednesday.

The APC had unveiled former Borno State Governor, Senator Shettima, as its vice presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections.

The event had in attendance the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the party’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, party chieftains, and religious leaders.

However, some viral pictures and videos from the event accused Tinubu of hiring street urchins to dress as Christian clerics.

In a communique issued through the Director, Media & Communication of his Campaign Organisation,  Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu noted that the event was an open affair, which allowed members of the public to attend, including clergymen.

The presidential candidate accused the opposition of cashing in on the development to stir unnecessary attacks on APC, describing the viral pictures and videos of the clergymen and women  “as unwarranted distractions” by political opponents.

“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,” part of the statement reads.

“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.”

Tinubu added that the buzz on social media was a ploy by those seeking his downfall in the coming election and to distract many from the success recorded at the unveiling.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

“We are well aware that the opposition parties and the sponsors of the social media charade are jittery and threatened by the intimidating political credentials of our candidates. The only way they hope to shift the attention of public scrutiny away from their uninspiring candidates and credentials is to create social media distraction.”

He, then, reiterated his commitment to tackling the problems facing the masses and improving the standard of living of Nigerians.

“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.”

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