The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 Elections, Peter Obi, has distanced himself from a purported audio recording of a telephone conversation between him and the Presiding Bishop, Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo.
According to Obi, the audio recording is a product of the endless forgeries peculiar to the All Progressives Congress.
In the trending audio recording, there is an alleged conversation between Obi and the influential Christian cleric in which the LP candidate was purported to have asked the cleric to mobilize support for him ahead of the disputed election.
Speaking through the Head, Obi Datti Media Office, Diran Onifade, in Abuja, on Sunday, Obi said APC’s desperate bid to grab and retain power using subterfuge must stop.
He said, “It appears the All Progressives Congress’ desperation to grab and retain power by foul means has refused to go away more than a month after they have grabbed the election as they planned.
“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.
“From the show of shame in Portharcourt to the drama in the Ibom Air aircraft, both of which they contrived, they have now moved to the circulation of 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.
“Peter Obi has long been on record as the only presidential candidate who has urged the Nigerians 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.
“That is more important than to expect those who ran election on forged credentials and even fake Bishops to stop faking. They cannot stop being fraudulent because that is who they are.”