Oyedepo-Obi leaked audio: Muslims are not surprised, says MPAC
The Muslim Public Affairs Centre (MPAC) has said the Muslims are not surprised by the content of the leaked telephone conversation between Bishop David Oyedepo of Living Faith Church Worldwide, and Peter Obi, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last Presidential election.
In the said audio, Obi sought the help of Bishop Oyedepo to persuade Christians in the South West, Kogi and Kwara states to support him in the election he called a “religious war”!
The audio clip has been confirmed as genuine by Mr Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman for the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council. MPAC, in statement by its Executive Chairman, Disu Kamor, said: “It would be presumptuous to say we are surprised by the audio of these two leaders who millions of Nigerians see as role models.
“We only find it interesting, just like many well-meaning and right-thinking Nigerians, that in the mentality of some politico-religious leaders in this country, Muslims are enemies who are to be vanquished and wiped off the face of the earth as it is done to the enemy in a typical war situation. If not anything, the audio has clearly shown who they are and it is only those who are like them that would find the conversation ordinary.
“Obi must have carefully chosen who to speak with regarding his ‘religious war’ strategy. Bishop Oyedepo is the most visible and flamboyant figurehead in the South-Western Nigeria Islamophobia circle, and one of the leading national figures in this sordid industry.
“He has relentlessly, in broad-brush, denounced Muslims and made prosperous claims about Islam while addressing his home base. His naked hatred for Islam, some of which are detailed in national dailies, makes him to mingle freely with politicians whose desperation for power have made them deployed divisive and Islamophobic languages and tactics. Throughout the leaked audio, notwithstanding Mr Obi’s clear call to crude ethnic and religious politics, he received glowing encouragement and promises of unfettered supports from Bishop Oyedepo.
“Despite the gravity of the leaked audio, we are not surprised because the Noble Qur’an has actually told us of the hatred, bigotry and bellicosity of some who claim to be Christians.
In not painting every Christian with the same brush, the Glorious Qur’an also says, “… You will certainly find the nearest in friendship to the faithful to be those who say, ‘We are Christians’. This is because there are priests and monks among them who are not given to arrogance” (Qur’an 5:82).
“Just in the spirit of Allah’s irrefragable words, we still believe there are Christians who do not share the deep-rooted prejudice of these men and still consider Muslims as important allies, not enemies. To those Christians, we have nothing but our utmost respect and promise of cooperation” he said.
Kamor said, “It is unfortunate that while Muslims have remained committed to noble principles and democratic ideals for nation-building and peaceful-coexistence, some Christian leaders have always been fanning the embers of bigotry and intolerance. They have sowed the seeds of hatred in the hearts of their followers to the extent that they see Muslims as enemies and wish to exterminate them politically and physically. It appears that politics is just a smokescreen to these hardened Islamophobes to execute their invidious ethnic and religious agenda.”
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