BISHOP David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church says he has never campaigned for a politician in a Nigerian election.
He said this while speaking about faith at the church’s headquarters in Ogun State on Sunday.
This comes less than 24 hours after an online newspaper, Peoples Gazette, published an audio in which Obi asked Oyedepo for help in obtaining votes from Christians in the South-West.
The former Anambra State governor also stated that the votes were required because the presidential election in 2023 would be a religious war.
“Daddy, I need you to speak to your people in the South-West and Kwara, the Christians in the South-West and Kwara.This is a religious war. Like I keep saying: if this works, you people will never regret the support,” he said in the audio.
In his reaction, Oyedepo said he never spoke to any group of people on behalf of any politician.
“Nobody had ever told me what to say in this world. No. I have never campaigned for anybody or speak on anybody’s behalf and I will not do that till I go to heaven.
“There is no (political) party in this country that didn’t come to me for prayers and for advice. I advised them, some, they didn’t take. Those who chose to take it, they see results; those who said no, they are going about it (laughs). If you still come again, I will still tell you, it doesn’t change,” he said.
The audio had drawn criticism for Obi, with some of his supporters claiming that it had been doctored.
However, in a statement issued in the early hours of Sunday, Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman for the Labour Party Presidential Campaign, confirmed the authenticity but claimed that critics had taken it out of context.
Balogun Akin Osuntokun, Director General of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation, previously told Daily Trust that he had nothing to say on the matter.
“I have nothing to say on this,” Osuntokun said when contacted over the phone.
