Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has strongly denied reports alleging that he met with President Bola Tinubu in Rome to discuss a purported ₦225 billion debt linked to Fidelity Bank.
In a statement released on Thursday via his official X (formerly Twitter) handle, Obi described the claim as part of a broader blackmail campaign aimed at tarnishing his image.
“It’s obvious that the biggest business for blackmailers now is talking about Peter Obi from every negative perspective,” he said. “Even my solemn spiritual trip to Rome has been twisted into yet another blackmail campaign by merchants paid ostensibly to propagate anything negative against Obi.”
A recent media report had claimed that Obi held a secret meeting with President Tinubu in Rome to plead for intervention in a financial scandal involving Fidelity Bank, where he once served as a board member. The report also suggested that Obi was linked to a ₦225 billion debt allegedly connected to the bank.
However, the former Anambra State governor categorically denied the claim, insisting he neither sought nor held any private audience with the president.
“I have never sought an audience with, nor met, President Tinubu since he assumed office,” Obi stated. “The only interaction I had was a brief, respectful greeting during the inauguration Mass of Pope Leo XIV at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, where I was seated behind him and other dignitaries.”
Obi also refuted allegations that he owns Fidelity Bank, clarifying his past professional relationship with the institution.
“The self-proclaimed ‘blackmailer-in-chief’ and others who thrive on spreading pain and falsehoods have also claimed that I own Fidelity Bank. For the record, I do not,” he said. “Throughout my career, I have served as Chairman/Director of three banks and financial institutions, of which Fidelity is one. The bank has over 500,000 shareholders, none of whom hold a majority stake.”
He warned that such baseless claims do not only target him but also risk harming the reputation and interests of hardworking Nigerians who are shareholders in the bank.
Obi concluded by urging the public to disregard what he described as deliberate attempts by "paid merchants of falsehood" to mislead the public and distract from important national conversations.
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