Peter Obi: Audio tape with Pastor Oyedepo fake, doctored

The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25 election, Peter Obi, has described the audio in the circulation of him having a conversation with the founder of Living Faith Church, Pastor David Oyedepo, as fake.

Obi in a statement via his Twitter handle said he has instructed the legal team to take appropriate legal actions against media houses behind the fake audio.

The former Anambra State governor accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of attempting to divert the party’s attention from claiming the stolen mandate, which he described as unfortunate and sad.

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Obi added that the focus should be on addressing the litany of challenges facing the country, such as flawed electoral processes, the parlous state of the economy, unsustainable debt burden, lamentable unemployment and inflation, insecurity, and multidimensional poverty.

The statement reads: “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.

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“Let me reiterate that the audio call being circulated is fake, and at no time throughout the campaign and now did I ever say, think, or even imply that the 2023 election is, or was a religious war.

“The attempt to manipulate Nigerians is very sad and wicked. Our legal team has been instructed to take appropriate legal actions against Peoples Gazette and others.

“While we call on all concerned Nigerians and the International Community to implore the APC and the APC Led-government to stop their nasty attacks, my focus and commitment to lawfully and peacefully retrieve our mandate to secure and unite our nation, take Nigeria from consumption to production, pull millions of Nigerians out of multidimensional poverty, especially in the North, and jumpstart prosperity through agricultural, industrial, and technological revolution remain unchanged.

“Elections are over, and we are in court to retrieve our stolen mandate. Let me reiterate that we are doing so through all lawful and peaceful options in line with our legal system and constitution, and I continue to implore all Nigerians to remain peaceful and law-abiding.

“Those fixated on heating up the polity, creating divisions, tensions and hatred within and outside Nigeria should remember that Nigeria is our only country.

“Our focus should be on how to address the litany of challenges facing us, such as flawed electoral processes, the parlous state of our economy, unsustainable debt burden, lamentable unemployment and inflation, insecurity, and multi-dimensional poverty.”

Let me reiterate that the audio call being circulated is fake, and at no time throughout the campaign and now did I ever say, think, or even imply that the 2023 election is, or was a religious war.

— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) April 5, 2023