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Spokesman of the Labour Party’s Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Kenneth Okonkwo has confirmed the leaked conversation between the presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi and Bishop of Living Faith Church, David Oyedepo.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports a leaked audio, reportedly a conversation between Obi and Oyedepo, in which the Labour Party presidential candidate made mention of “religious war”, has been trending on the Internet, especially on social media, over the weekend.
After the private conversation leaked, Obi was criticised for likening the 2023 presidential election to a religious war, with Festus Keyamo, a spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the dream of the former Anambra State Governor of becoming Nigeria’s president has come to an end as a result.
Keyamo wrote: “Having confirmed the authenticity of what is now known as the Peter Obi ‘Yes-daddy’ audio, I think the real culprit here are the so-called ‘men of God’ who allowed themselves to be used by an unscrupulous politician to seek to inflame religious passions in our dear country in the name of politics.
“So, when they were telling their hapless adherents that they heard the voice of the Lord, it was actually Peter Obi’s telephone calls they heard and not God’s voice. This is deceitful, shameful and disgusting. Imagine a so-called ‘man of God’ comparing notes with a politician as to what he said or what he would say on the pulpit in order to get him votes.
“I hope this sufficiently embarrasses the ‘men of God’ in Nigeria to forthwith desist from using the pulpit for politics and the Church-goers to stop being teleguided by their self-serving ‘men of God’.
“As for Peter Obi who declared an election a ‘religious war’ in a multi-religious and multi-ethnic country like ours, the real God has just exposed him and his dream to be Nigeria’s President one day has just died a natural death. ‘Yes-daddy’ is now permanently etched in the consciousness of the nation and we will NEVER forget!”
However, in a series of tweets, Okonkwo argued that the conversation between Obi and Oyedepo was twisted and the that the Winners Chapel Bishop aptly set the context for the conversation.
The Labour Party spokesman wrote: “Our attention has been drawn to the publication of this audio tape of private conversation between @PeterObi and Bishop Oyedepo. It is not surprising that these political criminals are trying to spin the conversation as if Obi was making a religious statement.
“Firstly, the context of the conversation was aptly put by Bishop Oyedepo when he said “All Nigerians have equal stake in this nation, nobody has the right to claim that he is dashing something to someone”.
“H E @PeterObi was simply urging the Bishop to help him push this message of equal stake of all Nigerians in the Nigerian project to his people and the christiandom because the politicians of the other party is carrying on this campaign as if it is a religious war. To drive home this point, he informed him that he visited the traditional ruler of Offa, the Olofa of Offa, who is a Muslim, but who advised Obi to get the support of Oyedepo and be assured of his own support. No Politician has ever visited the Olofa of Offa.
“It is clear to everybody that the APC political party that has a Presidential Candidate, Vice Presidential Candidate, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, National Chairman of the Party all from one religion at a time the CJN is a Muslim is the Party that has declared religious war on Nigerians and we must all rise up together to fight this unconstitutional act of religious intolerance of other religions by APC. I went around with Obi on campaign train and never saw him discriminate against any religion.
“Of course he can’t because his Vice is a Muslim unlike APC. I resigned from APC because of their religious intolerance. Nigerians should disregard any insinuation of religious bigots about this tape”.
Listen to audio below:
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