The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has acknowledged the private conversation between him and the founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, took place.
The former Anambra governor, however, debunked describing the presidential election as a ‘religious war.’
Obi made the admission when he was featured on a natural television as a guest on Monday.
When asked if the phone conversation actually took place or if another propaganda aided by artificial intelligence, the politician admitted consulting with the fiery preacher but did not at any poll referred to the poll as a religious war.
He also described himself as the only non-Muslim governor, aside from erecting mosques, who has sent more people for pilgrimage in Mecca than other state leaders.
He said, “Call it whatever you want to call it. Whatever anyone wants to make of it. I am not a religious bigot. Do you think I can just pick a phone and say ‘religious war’? No, I was even begging the bishop to help me ask his people to vote, which was what I was doing for six months – begging. I wasn’t saying ‘catch him’, ‘kill him’, ‘force it’. I was even begging. That shows that I continued to look for votes by begging. There were so many things we tried to do but they were not okay.
“Let me tell you. Those who have been trying to manipulate Nigerians have been doing it. But it is coming to an end. The people they have been manipulating are dying of hunger. They will soon know who is the religious or tribal bigot. I am not one. I have just given you an example of how I built mosques. Till today, no non-Muslim governor has sent more people to Mecca than me.
“I can never say it (poll) is a religious war. Because it is not. There was a conversation. But I never said it was a religious war. What for? I am surrounded by people. If there was ever an instance where the presidential candidate and his deputy work as brothers, it is me and Datti. And I know and we never stop talking about it.
“For the first time in the history of Nigeria, we have a presidential candidate, running mate and party chairman who were born after Nigeria’s Independence. We must save this country and he (Datti) knows my commitment to it. I can’t do all these with the background of religious war.”
