Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate for the election for president on February 25, has distanced himself and his followers from internet attacks on Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
On Monday, May 8, Adeboye came under fire on the web following claims that he had shown support for Bola Tinubu, the incoming president.
According to online sources, the pastor said that Bola Tinubu, the incoming president of Nigeria, can fix the country with God’s assistance during a sermon on Sunday, May 7.
According to Peter Obi, some people were attacking the clergyman while pretending to be Obidients, he said in a series of tweets posted on his handle.
“The use of subterfuge by people masquerading as Obidients to abuse and insult eminent personalities like Most Reverend Pastor Enoch Adeboye or anyone else is most unacceptable. Obidients are by and large, law-abiding citizens.
“While differences of opinion are normal, calculated efforts to create ethnic or religious chasm all in the name of politics should not in any way be tolerated. As a person, I eschew name-calling, insults, and abuses, likewise, most of my supporters do.
“The suggestion that some in the fringes engage in such conduct casually overlooks the fact that the political opposition deploys such methods to gain undue advantage and create confusion and bad blood.”
In a related incident, Diran Onifade, the head of the Obi-Datti media office, issued a statement on May 10 separating Obi and the Obidients movement from the pastor’s social media attacks.
The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to yet another campaign of calumny emanating from opposition ranks, this time blaming ‘Obidients’ for recent unjustified social media attacks on the revered General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye.
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“We wish to state categorically that supporters of Mr Peter Obi, like their Principal, have great respect for Pastor Adeboye, indeed every responsible and respectable Nigerian, and therefore are not involved in any social media hounding of the revered man of God most especially over a statement he did not make.
“It has become a pattern for desperate political operatives to orchestrate a ruse and blame it on Peter Obi’s supporters in furtherance of the opposition’s subterfuge strategy which has failed back to back.
“We wish to appeal to fellow Nigerians to ignore the antics of election riggers who believe that demarketing Peter Obi is their sure means of keeping a stolen mandate.
“Nigerians are aware by now that issuing personal insults is not Peter Obi’s character and he does not encourage his followers to engage in the same.”
