Since the presentation of Senator Kassim Shettima as running mate to the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) today, social media space has been awash with photos and videos which depict Bishops and Christian Leaders who are being alleged to be fake and hired to clone Christian support for the ticket which was welcomed with heavy backlash from members of Nigeria’s Christian community.
A video posted on Facebook by one Radia Hyra showed some of the “Fake Bishops’ changing their normal outfits to dress like Clerics before entering the venue of the unveiling.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-2023028789149162&output=html&h=250&slotname=5559997686&adk=244520109&adf=2358414169&pi=t.ma~as.5559997686&w=300&lmt=1658348532&psa=1&format=300×250&url=https%3A%2F%2Fthenigerialawyer.com%2Fvideos-show-persons-changing-to-bishop-cassocks-receiving-payments-for-shettimas-presentation%2F&wgl=1&dt=1658357044974&bpp=54&bdt=12790&idt=54&shv=r20220719&mjsv=m202207140101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Dadbf2a2453a52965-221b320780d300cb%3AT%3D1657163725%3ART%3D1657163725%3AS%3DALNI_MYKBDjmuIRF-oVDs3fOljpxG5wSCg&gpic=UID%3D000009b3bfc4a94d%3AT%3D1657163725%3ART%3D1658355949%3AS%3DALNI_MZloBOej1B8m-JHElWQdY_zuCi03w&prev_fmts=696×174%2C0x0%2C728x90%2C468x60&nras=1&correlator=8378924698764&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=665936731.1657163713&ga_sid=1658357036&ga_hid=1573893421&ga_fc=1&u_tz=60&u_his=12&u_h=768&u_w=1366&u_ah=728&u_aw=1366&u_cd=24&u_sd=1&adx=141&ady=1827&biw=1349&bih=615&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=44759876%2C44759927%2C44759842%2C44763506%2C31068511%2C31068402&oid=2&psts=AGkb-H-KbxgzBHd9LYDIHpMMURYfe3A62zaoaKb6u6GOPlapOj0QYwWMYYjO4418hdGiE7A391poA9_imFma-lATOw&pvsid=2558821623221011&tmod=1584472467&nvt=1&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fthenigerialawyer.com%2F&eae=0&fc=896&brdim=-8%2C-8%2C-8%2C-8%2C1366%2C0%2C1382%2C744%2C1366%2C615&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CleEbr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=0&bc=31&ifi=6&uci=a!6&btvi=3&fsb=1&xpc=cTBTzErIGd&p=https%3A//thenigerialawyer.com&dtd=2096
The video caption reads: “This is the moment an eye witness recorded the alleged “fake” Bishops changing into their outfits at the unveiling of APC Vice President GOD CANNOT BE MOCKED.”
In another video, the fake Bishops were captured outside the venue of the presentation receiving payments apparently for posing as Christian Clerics during the event.
A different video which is also making rounds, shows that some of the clerics who attended the event shunned journalists and newsmen who approached them.
However, as the clerics left the hall and headed for the car park, some reporters approached them.
In the video seen by TheNigeriaLawyer, a reporter asked “Can you tell us why you are here?” to which one of the men responded, “No! No” “You don’t want to speak with us?” the reporter asked again and the cleric nodded.
One of the men used his bag to block the camera, while another walked quickly to avoid the reporter.
According to another report by Peoples Gazette, one of the fake bishops apparently hired by Bola Tinubu’s campaign for the public presentation of Kashim Shettima as the vice presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has narrated how he was paid for the appearance.
The imposter, who identified himself to Peoples Gazette as Joseph Odaudu, said Mr Tinubu’s hirelings broke a mutual agreement to be paid N100,000 for the shady job.
“They came to meet us at the car park behind Eagle Square and they promised to give me N100,000.
They bought food for us and took us to another place where they gave us clothes to dress like Christian leaders and reverend fathers,” Mr Odaudu told The Gazette shortly after the event in Abuja on Wednesday. “But after we finished they only gave me N40,000. I don’t know why they changed our agreement because they said they had N100,000 for us.”
In a related development, The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has dissociated itself from ‘Bishops’ who attended the formal unveiling of the vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kashim Shettima, describing them as desperados who went there for themselves.
The apex Christian organisation said 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.
The Vice President of CAN in charge of 19 Northern States and Abuja and Kaduna State chairman, Rev. Joseph John Hayab, made this known in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Wednesday.
“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 (in) 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 that 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,” CAN said.
Credit: The Nigeria Lawyers