Peter Obi, the Labour Party's presidential candidate, has said that he is under pressure to leave the country as a result of attacks coming from several directions.
Obi added that the leaked audio discussion between himself and Bishop David Oyedepo, the founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, is phoney and doctored in a statement posted on his Twitter account on Wednesday night.
The former governor of Anambra State claimed that the All Progressives Congress and the APC-led government are doing everything they can to "divert our attention from our blatantly stolen mandate," which he described as "unfortunate and sad." He was referring to recent remarks made by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed.
“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.
“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,” He wrote
According to him, he only focused on issue-based campaigns before, during, and after the election about a new Nigeria that placed a greater emphasis on production than consumption and was marked by inclusion, justice, equity, fairness, and prosperity. He also claimed that he "repeatedly stated that no one should vote for me based on tribe or religion."
“The attempts to manipulate Nigerians is very sad and wicked. Our legal team have 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.
“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,” Obi added.
On Tuesday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Mohammed, warned that Obi and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, risked being charged with treason for some of their comments regarding the presidential election on February 25. Mohammed claimed that the pair were inciting people over the outcome of the election.
