Obi visits religious centres for charity work, not campaigns – Spokesman
The campaign organisation of Labour Party Presidential flag bearer, Peter Obi, on Friday, faulted media speculations that his frequent visits to churches and mosques were an act of religious politics deployed to boost his political profile ahead of the 2027 election.
The former Anambra governor came under heavy criticism last month during the Ramadan season when he was spotted visiting some mosques to celebrate Iftar with the Muslim faithful.
Iftar is the meal eaten after sunset during Ramadan to break the day’s fast.
But the Chief Spokesman of his campaign organisation, Yunusa Tanko, thinks otherwise.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, Tanko reiterated that Obi’s acts of philanthropy and altruism transcend the complex institution of politics and religion.
He also condemned the ‘malicious and unsubstantiated allegation’, saying it is being orchestrated to blackmail the LP presidential candidate.
“We are aware that some persons operating under the guise of civil society, and non-governmental organisations but acting at the behest of some powerful political interests have been deployed to petition and accuse Peter Obi of playing religious politics.
“The aim is to malign Obi’s purely altruistic motives in supporting underprivileged Nigerians of all faiths. The ploy is to erroneously claim that he goes to religious places to carry out political campaigns off-season. Obi understands fully the constitutional dictates of separation of church/mosque and state and that Nigeria is an undisputed secular state.
“Obi’s visit to churches and mosques is purely prompted by his urge to help the less privileged and has nothing to do with political campaigns. In these places, Obi had given messages of hope to lift the spirit of the downtrodden. He hastily and never talked about politics, abused anybody or indulged in name-calling.
“For instance, during the Ramadan period, Obi visited some praying centres in the North and South breaking fast with the Muslim faithful, donating some items to help ameliorate their sufferings and further providing basic amenities such as potable water in some communities. We, therefore, urge the public to ignore any insinuation of Obi co-mingling politics and religion. They should see them as a grand design to limit Obi’s freedom of movement and citizenship welfare action,” he said.
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