Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has called on the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, to provide clarity on a leaked audio recording of his conversation with Bishop David Oyedepo, Founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the minister made the statement while speaking to reporters in London on Monday.
Mohammed challenged Obi to explain his comments regarding the leaked conversation, in which the former governor of Anambra State claimed the recording was “a fake doctored audio call.”
“I need to draw the attention of Nigerians to the recent leaked audio of conversation between the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, and the cleric,” the minister stated. “The leaked audio rattled Nigerians because we heard Obi pleading with the cleric to interfere on his behalf to convince Christians that this is a religious war and they should support him.”
He added, “If it is fake, it means it never took place. But if it is doctored, it means there was that conversation, but it was manipulated. Obi needs to come out and make the clarification whether the conversation did not take place or it took place but it was doctored. If it was doctored, which part of it was doctored? Is it the beginning, the middle or the end, or is it the ‘Yes Daddy’ part of it, or where he said it was a ‘religious war’?”
“From the outcome of the presidential election, you will see that Obi got his vote mostly from areas where he comes from and his religious leaning. This is not good for the politics of Nigeria, and it is very dangerous,” the minister alleged. “As a result of this kind of campaign, Nigeria is more divided than ever, and people are being heard commenting either based on their religious position or ethnic origin.”
Recall that last week, Obi threatened to sue the publisher of the audio, insisting that it is “fake”.
However, his response came after several of his aides and allies, including Valentine Obienyem and Kenneth Okonkwo, had already verified the authenticity of the recording.