Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has denied reports that he travelled to Rome to meet President Bola Tinubu regarding an alleged ₦225 billion debt linked to Fidelity Bank.
Recent reports had it that that Obi had went to Rome for the installation of Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican held over the weekend to plead with President Bola Tinubu over a purported N225 billion Supreme Court judgement involving the bank.
In a statement posted on his X (formerly known as Twitter) on Thursday morning, the former Governor of Anambra State disclosed that he was in Italy for the event as a member of the Catholic Church.
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“It’s obvious that the biggest business for blackmailers now is talking about Peter Obi from every negative perspective. 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.
“One such individual, whose entire life revolves around blackmail, falsely claimed that I went to Rome to have a private meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu regarding a purported N225 billion debt crisis involving Fidelity Bank. These claims are not only baseless, malicious, but entirely false.
“Let me categorically state that I have never sought an audience with, nor met, President Tinubu since he assumed office, except about 1 minute meeting at the arena of Saint Peter’s Basilica Rome during the inauguration Mass of Pope Leo XIV, where I was seated behind, and had to respectfully greet him, and other dignitaries present.
“I was previously in Rome on the 9th of May for the lying in state of Pope Francis. Immediately after the mass and exchanging pleasantries, I went straight from Vatican City to London, and then back to Nigeria.
“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.
“Throughout my career, I have served as Chairman/Director of 3 banks/Financial institutions, of which Fidelity is one of them. Fidelity has over 500,000 shareholders, none of whom hold a majority stake. What this blackmailer seeks is to harm these hard-working Nigerians and cause them needless distress.
“To those peddling these falsehoods, and engaging in blackmail, I offer a simple prayer: May God grant you the virtues of gratitude and understanding to know that we came here with nothing and will go with nothing, that they cannot profit from their evil ways,” he wrote.
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