Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, on Sunday, said his recent suggestion to convert ‘church vigils into night shifts’ has been misrepresented.

The former Anambra State governor, faced intense backlash after his interview on the Honest Bunch podcast aired on Saturday.

He stressed that Nigeria’s poverty and unproductivity stem from two major factors: politics and religion.

Specifically, Obi argued that Nigerians spend too much time attending church services from Monday to Friday, which sparked mixed reactions.

While some saw his statement as an attack on religious practices, others viewed it as a call to balance faith with productivity.

Reacting via a statement issued by his media aide, Ibrahim Umar, in the wake of the outrage, the former governor said his account was twisted and blown out of proportion.

The statement partly read, “Our attention has been drawn to a huge twist in his recent media interview, saying erroneously that he called for the dismantling of churches in Nigeria.

“By the headline given to the interview, the import of Obi’s message has been greatly overturned and grossly distorted to serve a mischievous end.

“The Labour Party leader is well known as a man of strong faith who has enormous respect and love for every religion and tried in the referenced interview to bring to Nigerians how religion can be more effective in their lives.

“Obi, in the interview, was merely underscoring what Apostle James said in ‘Faith without Works is unhelpful.’ When Obi said that he would turn night vigil into production night, he was only stressing the importance of worshipping God through work.

“Even Jesus Christ never picked any of his 12 disciples where they were praying but where they were working as fishermen and tax collectors, among others.

“What we are doing in Nigeria, which Obi’s interview is highlighting as wrong and should be discontinued, is exchanging work for prayer when the two should go together.

“There is no evidence in the scripture that Jesus blessed an idle person. The problem In some of Nigeria’s worship communities is that they are not following St James advisory that we should be doers of the words.”

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested former Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, on Monday in connection with the alleged diversion of N1.3 trillion.

The N1.3 trillion is said to represent the 13% derivation fund from the federation account between 2015 and 2023.

Sources within the EFCC confirmed that Okowa was taken to the agency’s office in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he was subsequently detained.

One of the sources stated, “Okowa was at our Port Harcourt office following an invitation from investigators probing the allegations against him. He was then arrested. The commission is investigating him regarding the N1.3 trillion 13% derivation fund from the federation account between 2015 and 2023

“He is also accused of failing to account for the funds, as well as another N40 billion he allegedly claimed was used to acquire shares in UTM Floating Liquefied Natural Gas. He reportedly bought shares worth N40 billion in one of the country’s major banks, representing an 8% equity stake, to support the offshore LNG project. The funds are alleged to have been misappropriated for other purposes.

“Investigators are also examining the alleged diversion of funds by the former governor to acquire estates in Abuja and Asaba, Delta State. He is currently being held at the EFCC facility in Port Harcourt.”

When contacted, EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, confirmed the arrest but declined further comment on the matter.

“He is with us,” Oyewale simply said.

Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has directed that all the minors arrested and facing prosecution in court over their alleged involvement in the #EndBadGovernance protest should immediately be released without prejudice to the law.

This follows the national outrage and international consternation that trailed the trial of the minors.

President Tinubu also directed the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction to see to the welfare of the minors.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents, in Abuja.

The Minister said that the President said all the law enforcement agents involved in the arrest, detention and prosecution of the minors be investigated and anyone found culpable, would face appropriate disciplinary action.

More to come…