Leaked Audio: Make Your Position Clear – FG Tells Obi

The Buhari-led administration through the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai 1Mohammed, has asked Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate to defend himself regarding a leaked audio recording of a discussion he purportedly had with a well-known Nigerian clergyman.

The audio tape, which was made public by an online site, is alleged to be a conversation between Peter Obi and the founder of Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo.

Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture, said in a statement to the media on Monday in London that Obi should clarify his claim that the leaked discussion was “a fake doctored audio call.”

“I need to draw the attention of Nigerians to the recently leaked audio of a conversation between the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, and the cleric.

“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 said.

Lai said that in the aftermath of the leaked audio, Obi came out to say that it was “a fake, doctored audio call.”

He noted that: ” 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 on 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?”

He maintained that the leaked audio had confirmed the position that Obi’s electioneering campaign was based on religion.

The minister said that this was the first time in the history of Nigeria’s elections that a politician would come out openly to campaign on grounds of religion.

“From the outcome of the presidential elections, you will see that Obi got his vote mostly from the areas where he comes from and his religious leaning. This is not good for the politics of Nigeria and it is very dangerous.

“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.

He also said that many notable figures are also involved in this kind of campaign, "Many otherwise respected commentators are not left behind on the effect of this divisive politics,”