The Labour Party presidential candidate during February 25 presidential election, Peter Obi, has distanced himself and his supporters from attack on the General Overseer, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye.
He said the social media attack on the cleric was part of a plot by the opposition to “create confusion and bad blood”.
Obi, who is a former Anambra State governor, made the clarification in a series of tweets on his Twitter handle on Wednesday.
The PUNCH reports that Adeboye had come under heavy criticism after the pastor declared that the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, can fix Nigeria with God’s help.
But reacting to the backlash that trailed Adeboye’s statement, Obi wrote, “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.
“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.”
Also, the Obi-Datti Media Office, in a statement signed by the Head of the Media Office, Diran Onifade, on Wednesday, distanced Obi and members of the Obidients family from social media attacks on the pastor.
The statement read, “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.
“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.”