Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, has dismissed the leaked audio of him purportedly discussing with Winners Chapel General Overseer, Bishop David Oyedepo, as fake and the handiwork of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Obi said in a statement issued on Saturday and signed by Diran Onifade, Head, Obi-Datti Media, that the fake audio in which he purportedly described the 2023 presidential ballot as a religious war, is “aimed at promoting religious tension in the country.”

He equally blamed APC for last week’s “drama in the Ibom Air aircraft” during which a passenger claiming to be an Obidient delayed the departure of the flight and was later ejected by security operatives for insisting that APC’s Bola Tinubu would not be inaugurated as President on May 29.

The statement reads:

“It appears the All Progressives Congress’ desperation to grab and retain power by foul means has refused to go away more than a month after they have grabbed the election as they planned.

“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.

“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.