Fides Media Living the Faith
By Jude Atupulazi
The Christian Association of Nigeria has distanced the body from those claiming to be bishops who attended the unveiling of the running mate of Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, last Wednesday in Abuja.
The presence of the bishops, whom many described as fake, at the event, had drawn the ire of many Nigerians who berated the APC presidential candidate, Tinubu, for being dishonest and for ridiculing Christians. Tinubu, it will be recalled, had chosen a fellow Muslim as his running mate to the chagrin of Christians and the invitation of those bishops was seen as an attempt at showing that the party had the support of Christians in Nigeria.
But reacting to the development, the Christian body dissociated itself from Bishops and described them as desperados who went there for themselves.
The organisation said that although the presidential candidate of the APC, Tinubu, was free to hire mechanics and other artisans and sew clerical garments for them, the effort would only add to their many woes 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, 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’s garments. Take a closer look at their photo and you will see another Nollywood movie.’
CAN, which condemned what it called their desperation, said, ‘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 the CAN President one night. A meeting that was not true and was on a night that the CAN President was in Alabama, USA, attending a 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 woes when the political exercise is over but will not change the need for fairness and justice that CAN is calling for,’ CAN stated.
The Christian body said that as the country was in a democratic dispensation, there was no need to do funny and dubious things just to prove a point and noted that it would boomerang; even as it warned Tinubu’s camp to always do what was right and stop the drama.