Peter Obi, the third-place candidate in Nigeria’s presidential vote, claims he is under pressure to leave the nation.
The government was trying to “divert attention” from “blatantly stolen” elections, he claimed, without providing any evidence to support his assertion.
The results of the presidential election have already been disputed by Mr. Obi at Nigeria’s highest appeals court.
“The attempts to manipulate Nigerians is very sad and wicked,” he tweeted on Wednesday night.
An audio has been doing rounds in Nigeria of an alleged conversation between Mr Obi and a religious leader, in which the presidential election is likened to a religious war.
Mr Obi said the audio was a “fake doctored audio call”.
“Let me reiterate that the audio call being circulated is fake, and at no time throughout the campaign and now did I ever say, think, or even imply that the 2023 election is, or was a religious war,” he said.
He added that his lawyers will take action against an online publication that circulated the clip.