Online news magazine The Peoples Gazette has dared the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, to go to court as the news outlet insisted that its April 1, 2023 publication of a phone conversation between Obi and the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide Bishop David Oyedepo is genuine.
Obi has come under intense scrutiny after he was heard telling Oyedepo in the leaked audio that the February 25 presidential election was a ‘religious war’.
Obi who reacted to the leaked audio about four days later said the audio was doctored and threatened to sue the online magazine.
But reacting to Obi’s lawsuit threat on Thursday, The Gazette’s Deputy Managing Editor, Boladale Adekoya, said the newspaper stands by its publication.
He said Obi wants to force them into revealing the source of the leaked audio at trial but that they will protect the source to any length.
Adekoya noted that the Obi’s leaked audio clip was sourced and properly authenticated in advance of running it.
“The audio and the context surrounding it were properly sourced and authenticated in line with journalism best practices,” he said.
Adekoya, who stressed that The Gazette was prepared to go to any length to protect the source of the clip, said, “Finally, we maintain in no uncertain terms that we will uphold the principle of source protection to any length.”
