Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, and Bishop David Oyedepo, the founder of the Living Faith Church International, also known as Winners’ Chapel, spoke on the phone in a conversation that has continued to stir controversy.
In the audio tape that went viral on Saturday, Obi could be heard pleading with Oyedepo to assist in getting his message out to Christians in the South-West and some regions of the North-Central.
According to the leaked audio tape Obi is heard saying: “Daddy, I need you to speak to your people in the South-West and Kwara, the Christians in the South-West and Kwara,” Mr. Obi was heard saying in the leaked audio clip. “This is a religious war.”
“I believe that, I believe that, I believe that,” Bishop Oyedepo responded with Mr. Obi saying on the other side of the phone that “If this works, you people will never regret the support.”
Obi’s media assistant Valentine Obienyem responded by claiming that the recording of his principal’s chat with Oyedepo that was leaked was cut out of context.
Moreover, Obienyem asserted that the leak was caused by “our Nnewi wayward brother.”
“They edited out the Muslim-Muslim ticket that led to the discussion, where Obi said that in a society like ours, religious balancing was a necessary consideration and that their recklessness had made Christians to assume it was a religious war.”
In addition, Oyedepo claimed on Sunday (2nd April 2023) that he never advocated for or spoke on behalf of any politician in the run-up to the general elections.
According to a punch report, Oyedepo, while speaking to the congregation at the church’s headquarters, Faith Tabernacle, Ota, Ogun State, said, “I have never campaigned for anybody or spoken on anybody’s behalf and I will not do that till I go to heaven.
He continued by saying “There is no (political) party in this country that didn’t come to me for prayers and advice.”
In the meantime, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, a former governor of Enugu state, criticized the Labour Party’s standard-bearer for allegedly bringing religious and ethnic politics in Nigeria.
According Chimaroke, “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.”
Mr. Festus Keyamo the spokesperson for Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign said Obi’s dream to be Nigeria’s President one day had died a natural death.
Keyamo 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.”
Since the leak of the audio tape online, the hashtag #YesDaddy had been trending online.
While some Twitter users poke fun at Obi’s supporters with the term “Yes, Daddy,” those supporters actually used it to show their support for him.
Shehu Sadiq tweeted saying “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.”
Sarki also 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.”
Democracy Watchman wrote on their tweeter 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.”
