THE presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi has denied the alleged leaked audio conversation featuring him and David Oyedepo, the Founder and General Overseer of Winners Chapel.
Obi debunked the audio in series of tweets via his official Twitter handle on Wednesday, March 5.
Recall that a Nigerian media platform, Peoples Gazette, had published an exclusive report and audio conversation alleging that Obi solicited the support of Oyedepo to get votes from Christians in the South-West ahead of the February 25 presidential election.
The leaked audio has stirred heated debate among Nigerians on social media.
Reacting to the report, Obi stated that the attacks on his personality is part of a plot by the ruling party to divert the attention of Nigerians from issues raised concerning the just concluded 2023 election.
“Before, during, and after the campaign, it is on record that I have maintained my commitment and focus on issue-based campaign about a New Nigeria that is POssible, a shift of emphasis from consumption to production, a New Nigeria characterized by inclusion, justice, equity, fairness, and prosperity,” Obi said.
“I repeatedly stated that no one should vote for me based on Tribe or Religion, but rather on the assessment of Character, Competence, Capacity, Credibility, and Compassion that can be trusted to create a New Nigeria!
“The present attempts by the APC as a Party, and the APC Led-government through some government officials and agencies to divert our attention from our blatantly stolen mandate is unfortunate and sad.
“These have come and continued to manifest in different ways, such as the malicious accusation of the Minister of Information, Mr Lai Mohammed, the circulation of a fake doctored audio call, and a pressure on me to leave the country.”
Obi reiterated that the audio is fake adding that he has instructed his legal team to take a legal action against Peoples Gazette that published the audio.
He urged concerned Nigerians to stop the ruling party from attacking his personality and focus on major challenges facing the country.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.