Alleged ₦225bn Fidelity Bank Debt: Peter Obi Breaks Silence Over Meeting With Tinubu in Rome

• Peter Obi denied reports of a secret meeting with President Tinubu in Rome over a ₦225bn Fidelity Bank debt, calling the claims a deliberate blackmail campaign
• He clarified he only briefly greeted Tinubu at a public event in Rome and has never sought or held a private meeting with him since his presidency began
• Obi also refuted claims that he owns Fidelity Bank, explaining he served as a board member but does not hold majority shares

Peter Obi, former Labour Party presidential candidate, has denied reports that he travelled to Rome to meet President Bola Tinubu concerning an alleged ₦225 billion debt linked to Fidelity Bank.

Obi calls report blackmail campaign

In a statement released on Thursday, May 22, via his official X, Obi described the report as part of a calculated blackmail effort aimed at tarnishing his reputation.

“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," he said.

Obi decline private meeting with Tinubu in Rome

The media report claimed that Obi met secretly with Tinubu in Rome to seek intervention over a financial scandal involving Fidelity Bank, where Obi once served as a board member.

Obi categorically denied ever requesting or holding such a meeting with the president.

“I have never sought an audience with, nor met, President Tinubu since he assumed office, except about a one-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,” he explained.

Obi clarifies relationship with Fidelity Bank

Addressing further falsehoods, Obi clarified that he does not own Fidelity Bank.

“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 three 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," he said.

Peter Obi’s statement firmly rejects the allegations and calls on Nigerians to discern truth from malicious rumours.

See the post:

‘I’m not fighting with Tinubu’: Peter Obi declares

Previously, Legit.ng reported that the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, said he is not in conflict with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Obi said his fight is against bad governance, hunger, poverty, out-of-school children, absence of health services etc.

He said he is focused on advocating for good governance and addressing pressing social issues in the country.

Source: Legit.ng