The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has dissociated itself from the unveiling of the vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Kashim Shettima, saying those who were presented as church leaders are ‘unknown clerics’.
CAN’s General Secretary, Barrister Joseph Bade Daramola, stated on Thursday that the Christian body is surprised to witness how desperate politicians have become in their craving for power.
“We are shocked, disappointed and worried about the desperation of some politicians who once claimed Christians do not matter in governance and politics who went to hire some unknown ‘bishops, pastors and priests’ to impersonate the leadership of CAN in their political meeting.
READ ALSO: Clergymen At Shettima’s Unveiling Were Not Fake – Tinubu
“This is totally unacceptable, reprehensible, unprecedented, and ungodly. If they are saying Christians have no electoral values why impersonating them in their meetings?”
“We are throwing their principals and sponsors into the court of conscience. These actions of theirs have shown who they are to the public and what they are capable of doing to us all,” Barrister Daramola declared in a brief communique.
CAN asked political parties not to ignore “religious sensibilities and sensibilities of the people especially in today’s Nigeria when Christians are becoming endangered species daily.
“Our quest is within the constitutional requirements and ignoring it is akin to trampling on the Constitution, especially the Federal Character Act.”
The ecumenical body noted that at the fullness of time, it will direct its members nationwide on how to use their PVCs come 2023.
Tinubu’s choice of Shettima, a Muslim as his running mate, has split opinion and drawn widespread criticism with critics warning that a Muslim-Muslim ticket threatens the future of the country.
At the unveiling of Shettima where fresh controversy emerged over the presence of “bishops”, Tinubu called for unity.
He said, “We hold the chance to move the nation and our collective cause forward as never before,” he said on Wednesday at the unveiling of Shettima as his running mate. “To do this, we must be wise in our thoughts and courageous in our actions.
“We must win this election so that we can bring jobs, eliminate poverty, educate our children, (and) bring up our grandchildren without thinking of religious division or ethnic differences. We are one. Our passport is one; greenback is one. One nation, one destiny.”
