He did not offer proof to back the claim but said it was part of government's attempt to "divert attention" from a "blatantly stolen" elections.

Mr Obi has already challenged the results of the presidential election at Nigeria's highest appeal court.

"The attempts to manipulate Nigerians is very sad and wicked," he tweeted on Wednesday night.

An audio recording 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.