Former presidential aide Bashir Ahmad has accused ex-presidential candidate Peter Obi of framing the 2023 election as a religious war.

MyNigeria gathered that a leaked audio of a phone conversation between Obi and Winners Chapel pastor, Bishop David Oyedepo, had the Labour Party presidential candidate saying the 2023 election, which he eventually lost, was a religious war.

In a post on Facebook, Bashir Ahmad lamented that despite Obi's actions during the electioneering, it is President Bola Tinubu, and his Muslim-Muslim ticket, that is being accused of setting Nigeria up for a religious war.

He said, 'I genuinely don’t know where all of this will eventually lead us as a nation. If the rising tensions and the constant reckless narrative are simply because of the combination of the individuals currently occupying the Presidency, then why can’t we just wait and channel our dissatisfaction through the ballot boxes in 2027?

"We all clearly remember the events of the 2023 elections. Neither President Tinubu, his Deputy nor the APC built their campaign around religion. They did not tour mosques preaching religious fear. They did not weaponise faith for political gain. Instead, they focused on experiences and regional balance. But Peter Obi, the very candidate many propagandists supported, went from church to church framing the election as a religious war and busy calling daddies to help him take the message to their congregations.

"I genuinely thought that the Tinubu/Shettima ticket would be seen first and foremost as a Yoruba/Kanuri ticket, two ethnic groups coming together to represent national diversity, as people have been preaching that religion should never come before tribe. But now, because that narrative doesn’t fit the current agenda, suddenly everything is reduced to Muslim/Muslim, as their ethnic identities no longer matter.

"If we genuinely care about this country, our politics must be guided by truth, not reckless narratives crafted to inflame sentiment. Nigeria deserves better."

ASA