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.
In a statement released on Thursday, Obi described the report as part of a blackmail campaign aimed at tarnishing his reputation.
“It is clear that the biggest business for blackmailers now is to speak about Peter Obi from every negative angle,” he said. “Even my solemn spiritual trip to Rome has been distorted into yet another blackmail campaign by paid merchants intent on spreading falsehoods against me.”
Recent media reports claimed that Obi met secretly with Tinubu in Rome to seek intervention in a purported financial scandal involving Fidelity Bank, where Obi once served as a board member.
However, the former Governor of Anambra State categorically denied ever requesting or holding a private meeting with the president concerning any bank matter.
“I have never sought an audience with, nor met, President Tinubu since he assumed office, except for 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 alongside other dignitaries,” Obi clarified.
Obi also addressed misconceptions about his relationship with Fidelity Bank, stating that he does not own the bank.
