Leaked audio on Obi, Oyedepo is deep fake –LP campaign

The Labour Party (LP) campaign council has accused the All
Progressives Congress (APC) of trying to demarket Peter Obi, its presidential
candidate.

The campaign council was reacting to a leaked clip allegedly
involving Obi and David Oyedepo, the founder of Winners Chapel.

In the viral clip, a voice similar to that of Obi can be
heard asking the cleric to speak to the Christians in the south-west and Kwara
to vote for him in the presidential poll, describing the election as a
“religious war”.

In a statement released on Sunday, Diran Onifade, head of
the LP campaign, and Yunusa Tanko, the council’s chief spokesperson, said the
audio is deep fake aimed at tarnishing Obi’s image.

 “While we are toeing
the constitutional path to retrieve our mandate, those who have truncated the
wishes of the majority of Nigerians have recoursed to mischief and endless
subterfuge to continue to hold on to what they know does not belong to them,”
the LP campaign said.

“From the show of shame in Port Harcourt to the drama in the
Ibom Air aircraft, both of which they contrived, they have now moved to the
circulation of a deep fake audio file aimed at promoting religious tension in
the country.

“All these are meant to serve no other purpose than
egregious mischief aimed at demarketing Peter Obi.  If the goal is to create a credibility
problem, the ploy has failed woefully.

 “Peter Obi has long
been on record as the only presidential candidate who has urged the Nigerians
electorate not to vote for him on the basis of religion or tribe.”

Meanwhile, Kenneth Okonkwo, a spokesperson of the LP
campaign, earlier on Sunday, said the clip was authentic.

Okonkwo said: “Political criminals are trying to spin the
conversation as if the LP candidate was making a religious comment.”

Valentine Obienyem, Obi’s media aide, also said the leaked
audio of his principal’s conversation with Oyedepo was edited out of context.