The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCPCO) has condemned what it described as the desperate tactics of President Goodluck Jonathan of using religion to gain sympathy and remain in office at all costs.
A statement signed by its Director of Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu signed, said it is surprising why the President has turned worship centres into platforms for making official statements or announcing government policies.

He said this absurdity defies the norms of government practices and that the President is deliberately doing so “in the belief that the manipulation of religious sentiments would cover up the multitudes of his epic failures.”

According to Shehu, using worship centres as platforms for making major official statements could create precedents that the country could not handle in the future.

He said if previous Presidents did not use the Mosques or Churches to make official statements of public importance, it is wrong for President Jonathan to start something that is already sending the wrong message.

The statement said with the exploitation of religion for political gains, President Jonathan and his PDP-led government have lost any basis to accuse its presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, of being a religious “bigot” or “fanatic”.

Meanwhile, the APC presidential campaign said it was scandalised by reports of money being allegedly shared to religious leaders by President Jonathan in order to buy their conscience.

The APCPCO said it was incredibly embarrassed as to why a government would allegedly seek to bribe religious leaders in order to cover up its misdeeds and win re-election, despite its incompetence and non-performance.