On Thursday, Sowore said Obi must tender the apology for failing to sue The Gazette over the leaked audio conversation the former Anambra governor had with the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, as he had threatened.
The candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 presidential election, Omoyele Sowore, has said his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, must tender a public apology to Peoples Gazette, an online newspaper, for denigrating and libelously slandering and ridiculing its efforts.
On Thursday, Sowore said Obi must tender the apology for failing to sue The Gazette over the leaked audio conversation the former Anambra governor had with the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, as he had threatened.
The Gazette had published an audio conversation in which Obi told Bishop Oyedepo before the February 25 presidential election that the poll was a “religious war”. Obi could also be heard in the leaked audio saying “Yes, Daddy” several times in their conversation.
But Obi who was initially silent over the leaked audio conversation denied the audio and described it as fake and the handiwork of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
He added that there had also been pressure on him to leave Nigeria after the elections.
Obi who came third in the presidential election, therefore, threatened to take legal action against Peoples Gazette over the leaked audio conversation to press a charge for defamation and libel.
But reacting to Obi’s lawsuit threat, The Gazette’s Deputy Managing Editor, Boladale Adekoya, said the newspaper “stands by its publication”, adding that Obi wanted to force the medium into revealing the source of the leaked audio at trial but that they would protect the source to any length.
Obi issued the threat on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, over a week ago.
However, Sowore observed that more than seven days after Obi's threat to sue Peoples Gazette over the publication of the leaked audio, Obi’s lawyers have not sent any letter asking for a retraction or apology over the publication.
According to Sowore, Obi’s threat is a mere distraction to enable him (Obi) to tell another lie.
He wrote on his Twitter handle, “It has been 7 or more days since @GazetteNGR released the damning blockbuster @PeterObi religious bigotry “Yes Daddy” phone audio to Bishop @DavidOyedepofdn, despite threats to sue @GazetteNGR his “lawyers” have not sent a single letter asking for a retraction or apology.
“I knew the threat was a distraction so the lying machine could move on to telling another lie. @PeterObi must therefore apologise to @GazetteNGR for denigrating and libellously slandering and ridiculing their efforts.”