A veteran Nigerian journalist, and political affairs commentator, Chuks Akunna has described the purportedly leaked phone conversation between Peter Obi and Bishop David Oyedepo as fake.
During an interview on Africa Independent Television’s ‘Kaakaki’ program, Akunna highlighted that, as a journalist, he knew that certain phone calls are not made on open, unencrypted platforms. He believes that Obi and Oyedepo would not be careless enough to have such a conversation in such a manner.
Akunna further argued that the hurried manner in which the conversation was patched together indicated that it could be a deep fake.
Akunna pointed out that the alleged conversation had several discrepancies, including the inclusion of the ringtone of the dialed call, which is not a standard feature in recording applications. He stated that recording applications usually commence recording when the conversation begins and not during the ringing phase of a call, and this inconsistency raised doubts about the authenticity of the leaked audio.
He criticized the media house that first published the audio tape for not adhering to journalistic standards and acting hastily without conducting thorough checks.
