Following the call made by the Federal Government that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi should address the leaked video, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo has also advised Obi to come out publicly and clear the air.
New Telegraph had last week reported that a leaked audio telephone conversation between the former governor of Anambra State and Bishop Davido of Oyedepo of Living Faith Church Worldwide, aka Winners Chapel surfaced on the internet.
In the leaked audio, Obi was heard begging Oyedepo to help him get votes from Christians in South-West and Kwara State.
He had said the votes were needed because the February 25 presidential election was a religious war.
Obi has since described the leaked audio as fake; while Oyedepo had neither confirmed nor denied it but merely said he had never campaigned for politicians.
But on Monday, the Federal Government through the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, had in Washington called on Peter Obi to clarify if the leaked audio is fake or doctored and if doctored which part.
Reacting to the FG call, the Director-General, Implementation and Strategic Planning, Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly Worldwide, Ambassador Tony Obizoba on Tuesday challenged Obi to clear the air on the issue in order to stop further heating up the polity.
He said keeping silent in the face of the controversy over the audio is tantamount to heating up the policy.
According to him, Obi’s denial or confirmation of the audio should go beyond issuing press releases by his media aides.
Speaking with Daily Trust he said, “Peter Obi should come out himself and clear the air properly and allow the nation to know the true picture of that audio whether it’s doctored or whether there is a fact in the conversation…
“If actually, the basis of the argument is not whether or not he made a call to Oyedepo.
“Oyedepo has said categorically that many presidential candidates consulted him. If Peter Obi had consulted Oyedepo to seek his support and canvass votes for him from various quarters, it is left for Mr Peter Obi to come out and categorically clear the air on the issue because keeping silent is heating up the polity.
“I had a conversation with some media houses and I told them it is important he comes out himself, not his media aides coming out to defend him, that he should come out himself by issuing a very straightforward and let the whole world know the facts about the matter; that is our position.
“At this juncture, we are not going to begin to create sentiments on religious politics, we are trying to build a country where people see themselves as one even though we are diverse in our various religious and cultural diversities, we have to see ourselves as one and in one Nigeria,” he said.
