The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has charged the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi to prove he is not an ethnic/religious biased person.
The ACF said for Obi to become more relevant in national politics, he has to wean himself of all ethnic and religious strings attached to him.
It said the former Anambra State Governor needs to become a Nigerian in character, thinking, and mindset.
The forum made this known on Tuesday in a statement by its Secretary General, Murtala Aliyu, while reacting to the leaked audio of the alleged telephone conversation between Obi and the founder of Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo.
While both Oyedepo and Obi have debunked the audio as fake, the allegation has continued to raise dust with the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed recently challenging the LP candidate to tell Nigerians the truth about the said audio.
Adding its voice to the issue, the ACF scribe submitted that Obi must become a Nigerian in person and in politics. He added that religious leaders must refrain from using the altar as a campaign platform.
Aliyu said, “On the leaked video, even though the matter is dying now, the trust is that there is nobody that can rule this country under certain ethnic or religious sentiments and succeed. Nigeria is a complex country and anybody with such an agenda from which every part of the country or religion is unlikely to succeed because it will be glaring.
“It is not only here in Nigeria, you could see what the downfall of Donald Trump became when the evangelicals supported him. I think if Peter Obi wants to continue to be relevant in Nigerian politics, he should wean himself of these religious or ethnocentric issues and become a Nigerian in person and in politics.
“I also want to use this medium to call on our religious leaders to restrain themselves from getting involved in such trade by using religion or the pulpit as a campaign platform. They should advise their people to choose good leaders. Even Peter Obi must have made a mistake, if it is confirmed that that video is correct, to just narrow himself that parochial corner.
“Our position as ACF is for anyone who wants to rule this country, that person has to be a Nigerian in his/her character, thinking and mind set and they should avoid any enclave that they think will throw them up there.”
