Before Peter Obi, some notable Nigerian politicians have also struggled to defend themselves after they were linked with controversial conversations leaked on the internet.
Last weekend, the candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the just concluded February 25th presidential election, Obi, made news headlines after he was enmeshed in controversy as an alleged phone conversation between him and Bishop David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church, aka Winners Chapel, leaked on social media.
OsunDaily News reports that the leaked audio generated mixed reactions on and off social media with many Nigerians stating their position on the viral leaked audio.
Obi was said to have in the leaked audio, described the 2023 election as a religious war. He was heard begging Bishop Oyedepo to help him get votes from Christians in the South-West.
The former Governor of Anambra State received backlash from many Nigerians who accused him of weeping up sentiment in a multi-religious country like Nigeria.
However, while the leaked conversation between Obi and the revered Christian cleric is still trending, it is worthy to note that the Labour Party presidential candidate is just one among a couple of leaked audios involving notable politicians in Nigeria.
Below are some of the top Nigerian politicians linked with leaked audio, especially those that are election-related:
Fayose And Obanikoro
In 2014, an audio recording surfaced on the internet revealing how some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains, including then Governor, Ayode Fasyose, allegedly connived with security agencies to rig the Ekiti State Governorship election using men of the Nigerian Army.
In the leaked audio, the then-prominent chieftains of the PDP were heard discussing strategies on how to rig the 2014 Ekiti governorship election, a poll in which the party eventually won by a landslide.
Though a former Defence Minister, Musiliu Obanikoro, and the then Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, refuted the claims in the leaked audio.
The duo denied being a party to the plot to rig the election and questioned the authenticity of the authenticity the recording. Obanikoro had also threatened court action against news organisations who had published the conversations in the audio tape.
Despite their denials, the then Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, who also attended the meeting, confirmed that the tape was authentic. He, however, disagreed with the context of the discussion, saying the meeting was never about plans to rig the Ekiti State election.
In 2015, SaharaReporters dared Kogi State politician Senator Dino Melaye, as the digital news platform leaked his phone conversation with Tribunal judge Justice Akon Ikpeme, who handled the state 2015 election case.
The news platform claimed later in its reports that the judge, in a bid to get a soft landing, confessed to receiving a bribe twice from Melaye because he handled the lawmaker’s cases twice.
The development was widely debated on and off social media at the time.
Wike And Fayose Over Rivers Poll
In 2016, Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, and his counterpart in Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, were also entangled in a leaked telephone conversation.
The PDP chieftains were heard in the leaked audio discussing Wike’s alleged role during the December 10, 2016 rerun of legislative elections in Rivers State.
SaharaReporters quoted the two state leaders expressing their excitement about how Wike allegedly stormed a collation centre during the state election. According to the news platform, the tone of the exchanges made it clear that Wike’s aim was to manipulate the results of the elections in favour of his candidates.
It further quoted Wike explaining how he outsmart the Nigerian Army, declaring that “Nigeria Army does not exist again.”
In the build-up to the 2023 general elections, one Michael Achimugu, a former aide to the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, alleged that the former vice president used Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) between 1999 and 2007 under the watch of his principal, President Olusegun Obasanjo, to convert N100 million allegedly paid into his account by former Plateau State Governor Joshua Dariye.
In the conversation between Achimugu and Atiku, the former Vice President was heard admitting his involvement in a complex conspiracy that for years took advantage of federal contracting expenditures.
The audio leaked by Achimugu has the former vice-president narrating how he spearheaded setting up onshore shell businesses to serve as a conduit for syphoning significant sums from public work contracts for himself and Chief Obasanjo.
Atiku also revealed how the government designated some funds stolen during the process to political allies to fund their party’s activities without traces.
“What happened was when we came into office and I advised the president against open corruption.
“I told him to give me three people you trust and I will prepare three companies in which they will be subscribers or rather the directors. So that if there is any contract that we give they will act like consultants and they are given a fee. That fee is what we use to fund the party,” he said in the audio,” Atiku was heard saying in the audio.
But still, Atiku’s campaign team slammed Achimugu, stating that the audio was doctored.
