The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has distanced himself from an alleged audio recording of a telephone conversation between him and Presiding Bishop, Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo.
The audio recording had gone viral, with claims that the LP candidate asked the influential Christian cleric to mobilize support for him ahead of the disputed election. However, Obi has dismissed the recording as a product of the “endless forgeries peculiar to the All Progressives Congress (APC).”
Speaking through the Head of Obi Datti Media Office, Diran Onifade, in Abuja on Sunday, Obi stated that the APC’s “desperate bid to grab and retain power using subterfuge must stop.”
He went on to say, “While we are toeing the constitutional path to retrieve our mandate, those who have truncated the wishes of the majority of Nigerians have recoursed to mischief and endless subterfuge to continue to hold on to what they know does not belong to them.”
According to Obi, the audio recording is a deep fake audio file aimed at promoting religious tension in the country. “All these are meant to serve no other purpose than egregious mischief aimed at demarketing Peter Obi. If the goal is to create a credibility problem, the ploy has failed woefully,” he said.
Obi further clarified that he had long been on record as the only presidential candidate who urged the Nigerian electorate not to vote for him on the basis of religion or tribe. “We will, therefore, like to advise our beloved Nigerian people to remain focused on the task to take back the mandate we know was freely given to Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed through legitimate means,” he added.
The audio recording has sparked controversy in the country, with some alleging that it is part of a wider conspiracy to manipulate the outcome of the election. However, the veracity of the recording has yet to be established.
