Breaking: Peter Obi breaks silence on secret Rome meeting with Tinubu amid ₦225bn debt

Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has strongly denied allegations circulating online that he secretly met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Rome over a purported ₦225 billion debt crisis involving Fidelity Bank.

In a lengthy post shared on his official X (formerly Twitter) account, Obi decried what he described as a coordinated blackmail campaign orchestrated by individuals paid to discredit him at every opportunity.

“It’s obvious that the biggest business for blackmailers now is talking about Peter Obi from every negative perspective,” he said, lamenting how even his “solemn spiritual trip to Rome” was twisted into what he called yet another malicious narrative.

According to Obi, the blackmailer falsely alleged that he traveled to Rome for a secret meeting with President Tinubu over a Fidelity Bank debt controversy. He described the claim as “baseless, malicious, and entirely false.”

“I have never sought an audience with, nor met President Tinubu since he assumed office,” Obi stated emphatically. “Except for about a one-minute encounter at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome during the inauguration Mass of Pope Leo XIV, where I respectfully greeted him and other dignitaries.”

He clarified that his trip to Rome was primarily for the lying-in-state ceremony of Pope Francis on May 9. “Immediately after the Mass and exchanging pleasantries, I went straight from Vatican City to London, and then back to Nigeria,” he noted.

Obi also addressed claims that he owns Fidelity Bank, asserting that he does not. While acknowledging that he once served as chairman/director of the bank, he emphasized that Fidelity has over 500,000 shareholders and no majority owner.

“What this blackmailer seeks is to harm these hardworking Nigerians and cause them needless distress,” Obi said, describing the allegations as not only untrue but also injurious to the reputations of innocent shareholders.

He concluded the post with a prayer for those spreading falsehoods. “May God grant you the virtues of gratitude and understanding to know that we came here with nothing and will go with nothing,” he wrote. “A new Nigeria is POssible.”