The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has denied reports of seeking a private meeting with President Bola Tinubu during his visit to Rome for the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV, .
Speaking in a statement released via his đť•Ź account on Thursday, Obi said blackmailers who have been paid to spread negative news about him are behind the report.
The former Anambra State Governor also specifically denied seeking a private meeting with President Tinubu over a purported ₦225 billion debt crisis involving Fidelity Bank.
He urged members of the public to disregard the claims as they are baseless, malicious, and entirely false.
“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 ₦225 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,” he wrote.
I Don’t Own Fidelity Bank
Speaking further, Peter Obi denied owning Fidelity Bank, but he only serves on its leadership board.
He urged those spreading falsehoods about him to desist and chart a new course of life.
“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,” Obi concluded.