Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, has published a statement opposing campaign posters showing himself on Islamic prayer mats.
The aforementioned prayer mats were created by advocacy organizations to be distributed as campaign mementos to potential Muslim voters.
Images of the mats quickly gained popularity on social media and drew criticism from a wide audience, notably Muslims whose faith forbids the usage of images on objects used for worship.
The former governor of Anambra State claimed on his Twitter account that the mats were not made by his campaign team and expressed his “great respect” for Islam.
“The inclusion of my picture on the praying mat by a support group was misguided, even with the best of intentions,” he tweeted on Friday.
“It didn’t emanate from my campaign team. I have deep respect for the Muslim faith and indeed, for every other religion. We will never mock any faith, ethnicity or gender. We are one Nigeria.”
