The Federal Government has asked Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi to clarify his position on a leaked recording of a discussion he purportedly had with Living Faith Church International founder Bishop David Oyedepo.
Speaking to the media in London on Monday, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, said Obi should clarify what he meant when he suggested the leaked discussion was “a phony doctored audio call.”
“I need to raise Nigerians’ attention to the recently released recording of a discussion between the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and the priest.”
“We heard Obi begging with the preacher to intervene on his side to convince Christians that this is a theological conflict and they should help him,” he added of the leaked tape.
According to the minister, in the aftermath of the released recording, Obi stated that it was “a phony, doctored audio call.”
“If it’s phony, that implies it never happened,” the minister explained. But, if it has been doctored, it implies that the dialogue occurred but was distorted.
“Obi needs to come out and clarify whether the discussion did not occur or whether it did occur but was doctored.
“If it was doctored, which parts were doctored?”
“Is it in the start, middle, or end, or is it the ‘Yes Daddy’ section, or where he claimed it was a holy war?”
According to Mohammed, the leaked recording confirmed Obi’s electioneering campaign was centered on religion and ethnicity.
He said that this was the first time in Nigerian electoral history that a politician openly campaigned on the basis of religion and ethnicity.
“According to the results of the presidential elections, Obi received the majority of his votes from the places where he grew up and from those who shared his religious beliefs.”
“This is not good for Nigerian politics and is really hazardous.”
“As a result of this type of advertising, Nigeria is more divided than ever, with people making comments based on their religious beliefs or ethnic heritage.”
“Many otherwise reputable pundits are not oblivious to the impact of this poisonous politics,” he remarked.
According to an internet site, the audio tape was an alleged discussion between Obi and the head of Living Faith Church International, Bishop David Oyedepo.
Commenting about his trip to London, the minister stated that it was to defend the legality of the just finished general elections and to address the imbalance in the distorted narrative that had dominated the airwaves.
He stated that, as he did recently in Washington, he will inform the world that the 2023 election would be the freest in Nigerian history.
According to NAN, the minister is slated to meet with foreign media organizations and important think tanks in London.
