The Presidential Campaign Council of the Labour Party (LP) has urged Nigerians to disregard “any insinuation of religious bigots” about the viral audio clip of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and the founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, popularly known as Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo.

Obi, in the audio clip, urged Oyedepo to speak to the Christians in the South-West geopolitical zone and Kwara State to vote for him in the February 25, 2023, presidential election.

The former two-term governor of Anambra State also described the presidential poll as a “religious war”.

Reacting, the spokesperson of the LP campaign council, Kenneth Okonkwo, in a series of tweets on his Twitter account on Sunday, April 2, said Obi only urged Oyedepo to speak to Christians because other politicians in the country took the 2023 elections as a religious war.

Okonkwo said: “Our attention has been drawn to the publication of this audio tape of private conversation between Peter Obi and Bishop Oyedepo. It is not surprising that these political criminals are trying to spin the conversation as if Obi was making a religious statement.

READ ALSO: VIDEO: Oyedepo speaks on leaked audio with Obi

“Firstly, the context of the conversation was aptly put by Bishop Oyedepo when he said ‘All Nigerians have equal stake in this nation, nobody has the right to claim that he is dashing something to someone’.

“Peter Obi was simply urging the Bishop to help him push this message of equal stake of all Nigerians in the Nigerian project to his people and the christiandom because the politicians of the other party are carrying on this campaign as if it is a religious war.

“To drive home this point, he informed him that he visited the traditional ruler of Offa, the Olofa of Offa, who is a Muslim, but who advised Obi to get the support of Oyedepo and be assured of his own support. No Politician has ever visited the Olofa of Offa.”

Okonkwo further accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of declaring religious war on Nigerians, adding that he dumped the party because of its “religious intolerance”.

“It is clear to everybody that the APC political party has a Presidential Candidate, Vice Presidential Candidate, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, National Chairman of the Party all from one religion at a time the CJN is a Muslim is the Party that has declared religious war on Nigerians and we must all rise up together to fight this unconstitutional act of religious intolerance of other religions by APC.

“I went around with Obi on campaign train and never saw him discriminate against any religion. Of course he can’t because his Vice is a Muslim unlike APC.

“I resigned from APC because of their religious intolerance. Nigerians should disregard any insinuation of religious bigots about this tape,” the LP campaign spokesperson stated.

Meanwhile, Oyedepo, in his reaction, said he never campaigned for any politician or spoken on their behalf in the build-up to the 2023 general election.

The cleric added that all political parties sought his prayers and advice before the elections, stressing that he advised the politicians.

The Star