Obi rues desperate efforts to discredit him

The Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, has stated that there are numerous attempts to discredit him.

He claims that he is being targeted both domestically and internationally, with people attempting to replicate his voice and impersonate him while calling others.

On his Twitter account, Mr. Obi noted how he was impersonated by an unidentified person(s).

He said, “The latest incident happened in Abuja yesterday, May 17, at the Court of Appeal premises of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal venue, where my attention was drawn to what was going on outside the courtroom.

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“A report came to me while I was seated in court that one Prince Mustapha Audu, son of the late Governor of Kogi State, held the OBIdient’s Chief Spokesman, Dr Yunusa Tanko, and some others spellbound – castigating and talking down on me, describing me as an ethnic and religious bigot. He claimed that I called him while I was in front of his office on Tuesday morning around 11 am, but suddenly cut off the phone after I spoke Igbo and he, Audu, was unable to respond.

“According to him, Obi may have only helped to empower some businessmen strictly because they were Igbo and he wondered why Obi should aspire to lead the country if he cannot accommodate other ethnic groups.

“It was one of my aides who quickly alerted me to what was going on and I pleaded with him to go outside and tell the OBIdients who were with the man to kindly delay him until I came out of the courtroom. After the court proceedings, I met with Audu and he repeated the same story, adding that he was angry at me for cutting off the phone on him because he could not speak Igbo.

“He insisted that I was in front of his office in Abuja when I called. I then introduced myself again to him and told him, “My brother, I did not call you, and I couldn’t have been in front of your office on Tuesday because I was not in Abuja, and not even in the country. At about the time you alleged that I called you, I was arriving in Nice in France for a meeting. By the evening of the same day, I flew to London for another meeting and in fact, had to breeze in to felicitate with my dear elder brother, Dele Momodu, on his 63rd birthday.

“I only flew into the country this morning for this court session. The young man, looking embarrassed and surprised at the same time, added that the voice of the caller and everything sounded like mine. We exchanged pleasantries and took pictures.”

Obi tagged this action as “one of the many desperate efforts to run me down and tag me as what I am not, with the intention to gain some perceived political mileage against me.”

Obi has requested that the public be cautious and not easily deceived by those impersonating him for ulterior motives.