Some people operating under the guise of civil society, and non-governmental organizations have been recruited by some powerful political interests to accuse the 2023 Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi of playing religious and ethnic politics.
“The aim is to malign Mr Obi’s purely altruistic motives in supporting underprivileged Nigerians of all faiths. The ploy is to erroneously claim that he goes to religious places to carry out political campaigns off-season,” Yunusa Tanko, his spokesman said in the statement.
According to Tanko, “the Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR) wishes to alert the public of a fresh orchestrated design to blackmail the 2023 labour party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, by linking him to frivolous, malicious and unsubstantiated allegations of indulging in religious politics.
“We are aware that some persons operating under the guise of civil society, and non-governmental organizations, but acting at the behest of some powerful political interests, have been deployed to petition and accuse Obi of playing religious politics.
“The aim is to malign Mr Obi’s purely altruistic motives in supporting underprivileged Nigerians of all faiths. The ploy is to erroneously claim that he goes to religious places to carry out political campaigns off-season.
“We should ordinarily ignore such mischievous ploys as they are only intended to distract attention from Mr Obi’s patriotic and compassionate position,” he said.
He noted “for the avoidance of doubt and the protection of the gullible in their midst, it has become imperative to restate the truth and the facts.”
He stressed that Peter Obi understands fully the constitutional dictates of separation of church/mosque and state and that Nigeria is an undisputed secular state and would not allow politics to cause a muddle.