Nigerians have been expressing outrage since an audio clip of the conversation between the presidential candidate of the Labour Party Peter Obi and the General Overseer of the Living Faith Church,Pastor David Oyedepo, hit the news wave.
In the audio, Mr Obi declared that the election was a religious war, as he was soliciting Pastor Oyedepo’s intervention to speak to Christians in the South West and Kwara state.
Oyedepo on Sunday told his congregation in a church service that he never campaigned for any politician, adding that the audio was fake. However, LP has confirmed the authenticity of the phone call conversation.
In his reactions, former governor of Enugu state, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani has criticised Mr Obi for introducing religious and ethnic politics in Nigeria.
He said, “He fed our people with the sacred apple and Nigeria may never be the same again.
“What was in whispers and hush hush tones, Peter proclaimed loud in decibels in cathedrals and holy sepulchers.”
The spokesperson for Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign, Mr Festus Keyamo, lambasted Obi, telling the later that his dream to be Nigeria’s president would never come to a reality.
He said, “Having confirmed the authenticity of what is now known as the Peter Obi ‘Yes-Daddy’ audio, I think the real culprit here are the so-called ‘men of God’ who allowed themselves to be used by an unscrupulous politician to seek to inflame religious passions in our dear country in the name of politics.”
Following the audio leak, the #YesDaddy hastag has started trending online with Nigerians discussing it in different platforms.
Some used the tweets “Yes, Daddy” to throw jabs at Obi’s supporters, while others used it to express support for him.
According to twitter user, Shehu Sadiq, “Those of us that voted for Peter Obi in northern Nigeria will still vote for Peter Obi in case of a rerun election. No propaganda can change this because we know propaganda when we see them. So, your propaganda will have no effect in the North.”
Another tweet, Sarki, wrote, “Leaked Peter Obi phone conversation has been translated into Hausa. The APC are doing a lot of damage to Peter Obi’s political career in the North. They’re even going as far as sending it to WhatsApp contacts and groups.”
The Democracy Watchman wrote on itstweeter handle: “The APC propaganda machine has come out in full force to character assassinate (sic) Peter Obi and cause him to lose in the court of public opinion. But this generation is different.”
