One Joseph Odaudu has claimed that he was among those allegedly hired and paid to appear as bishops during the unveiling of Kashim Shettima as the vice presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
APC and its presidential candidate for the 2023 elections, Bola Tinubu have been receiving backlashes for allegedly hiring Christian clergymen who participated at the unveiling of the former Borno State governor as Tinubu’s running mate in Abuja on Wednesday.
At the events some people were seen dressed in bishops’ cassocks.
Christian Association of Nigeria has since described the supposed bishops as hired mechanics, saying that they are not its members.
The Christian group event went as far as challenging the APC to name the bishops that attended the event.
While the controversy over the matter continues to dominate Nigeria’s media space, one of the supposed ‘bishops’ at the event, Odaudu, who spoke with Peoples Gazette, affirmed they were fake and hired from a motor park.
He revealed that some APC members hired them and promised to pay them N100,000 each.
He, however, regretted that he only got N40,000 instead of the promised N100,000
He told the paper, “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.
“But after we finished, they only gave me N40,000 and another person said they got only N30,000. I don’t know why they changed our agreement because they said they had N100,000 for us.
“I am a Christian and I am supporting Tinubu but I hate when people lie and fail to deliver on their promises.”
Meanwhile, the Tinubu Campaign Organisation, TCO, had refuted claims that the bishops were fake and were hired.
According to TCO, the clerics where Christian clergymen without big names.
The group made the clarification in a
statement by its Director of Media and Communication, Mr. Bayo Onanuga.