One of the fake bishops allegedly hired by Bola Tinubu’s campaign for the public presentation of Kashim Shettima as the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) vice presidential candidate has revealed how much he was paid for the appearance.
The imposter, who identified himself as Joseph Odaudu to Peoples Gazette, claimed Mr Tinubu’s hirelings violated a mutual agreement to be paid N100,000 for the shady job.
“They came to meet us at the parking lot behind Eagle Square and promised me N100,000.” They bought us food and took us to another location where they dressed us like Christian leaders and reverend fathers,” Mr Odaudu told The Gazette shortly after the event in Abuja on Wednesday. “However, when we finished, they only gave me N40,000, and another person said they only got N30,000.” I’m not sure why they changed our agreement when they stated they had N100,000 for us.
“I am a Christian who supports Tinubu, but I despise it when people lie and fail to keep their promises,” he added.
A request for comment from Mr Tinubu’s campaign was not immediately returned.
The fake bishops wore cassocks to give Christian voters the impression that Mr Tinubu’s decision to pick a Muslim northerner as his running-mate for the 2023 general election was good for the country, despite strong criticism from the Christian community and opinion leaders in the country.
The Catholic Church called those who attended the event at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja “impostors,” telling The Gazette that the church had no representation at the event.
When asked if he was aware that dressing up as a Catholic bishop was illegal, Mr Odaudu insisted that he had broken no laws.
“No law was broken; we simply wanted to show Nigerians that Christians support Asiwaju Tinubu,” he added.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had spoken out against the choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket and registered its opposition to the ruling All Progressives Congress’s decision for the 2023 election.
Following reactions and heavy criticism from Nigerians, Christian leaders in the APC had repeatedly warned that the same religion ticket would spell doom for the party.
