Nigerian have taken to social media to express their disgust over what they term “fake bishops/Pastors who attended the unveiling of Alhaji Shettima as the Vice Presidential candidate of the ruling party, All Progressive Congress (APC), noting that it was wrong for the party to have painted a picture of Christians accepting the party’s Muslim-Muslim ticket.
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This is coming as the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), today dissociated itself from the Bishops who attended the event, describing the bishops and pastors as desperados who went there for themselves.
Also, while the event was ongoing, hundreds of protesters stormed the APC national secretariat to register their grievance over the position of the party on the contentious Muslim-Muslim ticket.
According to CAN, although, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the APC, was free to “hire mechanics and other artisans and sew clerical garments for them” and presented them as men of God, that effort would only add to their many ropes but would not change the need for fairness and justice.
The Vice President of CAN (19 Northern States and Abuja) and its chairman in Kaduna State, Rev. Joseph John Hayab, stated this in an interview with journalists in Abuja saying, “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 is about a story which says 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.”
Among the comments on Twitter condemning the impersonation of Christianity are:
BlaCkSuGaR@SugarStormz· “The one in white garment forgot rule number 1 when hiring garments; Iron them The one in suit forgot that the red stuff on his neck is never worn outside or a gathering that has nothing to do with Church service. While the “catechist” forgot that he ain’t a clergyman.”
Dignity in labor@iamstevemario “Obviously these people take Christians for fools, now look, no single genuine man of God here, if CAN didn’t take up this case as a case of false representations then I don’t know what it is, they should provide all the self-acclaimed bishops with their church names.”
Normal@IkwuegbuFrankl1 “Even the Cassock the cassock is the inner vestment worn before the Chasuble. The Catholic priest’s cassock is either white or black. This unknown priest is wearing a purple cassock.”
However, the protesters against the Muslim-Muslim ticket under the aegis of APC Hausa-Fulani Youth Forum displayed different banners with different inscriptions including: “A cry for justice, ‘Drop Shettima and give the slot to our Christian brothers.”
The Convener of Forum, Abdullahi Bilal Mohamadu noted that the protest would not stop in Nigeria until the party do the right.
A letter addressed to the National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, reads “We write to your good office in light of the prevailing circumstances arising from the decision of our Presidential candidate to select a Northern Muslim as his vice presidential candidate.
“While it must be stated that there is a right to make decisions, however, such decisions must not be made to the collective detriment of the sensibilities of the people that make up the country of Nigeria, especially at a time of mutual suspicion amongst the Christians and Muslims in the northern part of the country.
“As concerned stakeholders of the APC and those who constitute the voting strength of our party we find it worrisome that such a decision could be taken without recourse to its implication on the electoral chances of the party and the attendant uproar such a decision could bring about in the country.
“In our opinion, this is insensitive and a gross display of a lack of respect for our Christian brothers and sisters especially the Middle Belt minority who have given all their best to us as one northern Nigeria. Picking another Muslim from the northeastern part of the country as his running mate is politically and morally indefensible.
“In Northern Nigeria, there are credible candidates with rich credentials and with massive grassroots following that can complement the presidential ticket of the APC in the presidential elections. As such, the Hausa – Fulani Youths Forum sees the selection of Senator Kashim Shettima as an aberration that should be corrected with immediate effect by the relevant authorities within the party.
“The implication of non-action in this regard can only be imagined, so much so that the majority of the eligible voters in Northern Nigeria have elected to boycott the APC in protest of the disrespect and disregard to our Northern Christian brothers whose population and relevance in the scheme of things in the region cannot be overemphasized.
“If our party is desirous of recording electoral success in the 2023 presidential elections, it must retrace its steps by selecting a Christian from the Middle Belt as its vice presidential candidate. The party must not be perceived as promoting a religious agenda by fielding a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“We consequently say no to a Muslim-Muslim ticket by the APC. We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to kindly intervene to save the party from an electoral crisis. We urge Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to emulate the example of President Muhammadu Buhari in the choice of his running mate in the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections.
“Our Christian brothers and sisters deserve a place in the scheme of things, and our party must not be seen as a religiously insensitive party. The time to act is now.”
