MURIC To Peter Obi: Confirm Or Deny Leaked ‘Yes Daddy’ Audio with Oyedepo Within 3 Days

Islamic group, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has urged the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Peter Obi and the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, to confirm or deny the authenticity of a leaked audio tape now popularly called ‘Yes Daddy’.

MURIC said it wants to give the duo a fair hearing before interrogating the content of the audio.

The group said this in a statement issued on Wednesday by its Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola said Obi and Bishop Oyedepo should deny or confirm the authenticity of the leaked phone conversation within three days.

Obi had, in a phone conversation leaked by Peoples Gazette, begged Bishop Oyedepo to woo Christians in the Southwest region of Nigeria and Kwara State to support him. Obi in the leaked audio conversation with the cleric described the 2023 presidential election as a “religious war” and therefore pleaded with Oyedepo to help him secure the full support of Christians in the Southwest and Kwara as he was already working on winning votes in Kogi and Niger states.

In the leaked audio conversation, Bishop Oyedepo said: “In Jesus’ name, we are going to get a bright tomorrow,” to which Obi replied and said, “Amen Daddy. When I hear these prayers, it is very dear to me and like I keep saying, if this thing works, you people will never regret the support.

“We look forward to God’s intervention.” And Obi quickly responded and said: “Thank you, Daddy. Daddy, I need you to speak to your people in the Southwest and Kwara. The Christians in the Southwest and Kwara. This is a religious war.”

Oyedepo responded immediately by saying, “I believe you, I believe that. You know I did a release, ‘Nigeria going forward’ and I’m coming out with the second one today.”

Oyedepo also said, “You know what I said in the first one, a sickling nation like Nigeria requires a strong and healthy personality, and I said that anyone whose source of wealth cannot be verified should not have access to governance, particularly in an economy like Nigeria. I want to assure you that in the name of Jesus, the results shall be favourable.”

Oyedepo further promised to get Christians in Kwara state to vote for Obi while Obi confirmed to the cleric that he was worried about getting votes from Kogi and Niger states.

“The leaked audio tape of a conversation between the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi and the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, has gone viral,” MURIC said on Wednesday.

“In the leaked telephone conversation which occurred on the eve of the February 25, 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi was heard saying, ‘Yes Daddy’ to every remark made by the bishop. The LP presidential candidate called the election a ‘religious war’ to which the bishop replied ‘I believe that’. Peter Obi also told the bishop, ‘Like I keep saying if this works, you people will never regret the support.’

“MURIC urges the duo of LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi and the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, to confirm or deny the authenticity of the leaked audio tape within three days.”

The phone conversation between Obi and Oyedepo conversation has since generated mixed reactions with many Nigerians, including the opposition camps describing Obi as a “religious and ethnic bigot.” The leaked audio conversation also threw the Labour Party into confusion as the Head of Obi-Datti Media Office, Diran Onifade, in a statement in Abuja, on Sunday, described the leaked phone conversation as fake.

Valentine Obienyem, Media Assistant to Obi said their camp knew who leaked the audio but then added that it was doctored.

“They edited out the Muslim-Muslim ticket that led to the discussion, where Obi said that in a society like ours, religious balancing was a necessary consideration and that their recklessness had made Christians to assume it was a religious war,” he said.

However, one of the spokespersons for the party’s presidential campaign council, Kenneth Okonkwo, said the audio is authentic.

He, however, put the blame on the APC for fielding a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket and having Muslims occupy key positions in its government.

Okonkwo, who described the leaked audio as a private conversation, said, “Our attention has been drawn to the publication of this audio tape of private conversation between @peterobigregory 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.”

“His Excellency 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 Christendom because the politicians of the other party is carrying on this campaign as if it is a religious war,” he added.