‘Stop blackmailing me, I don’t own Fidelity Bank’ —Obi

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi has cried out over what he describes as attempts by some individuals who were paid to blackmail him.

The former Anambra State Governor who made the assertion in a post on his verified X handle on Thursday morning, said it was obvious that the biggest enterprise for blackmailers is talking about him in negative perspective all in a bid to satisfy their paymasters.

Obi particularly took exception to a story which linked his trip to Rome for the inauguration mass of Pope Leo XIV to his attempts to meet President Bola Tinubu to plead on behalf of Fidelity Bank.

Insisting that he is not the owner of the bank as insinuated by the report, Obi said his brief meeting with Tinubu was mere coincidence and as a Nigerian, he had to accord the President the respect by greeting him, an action that was misconstrued by mischief makers that he went to Rome to plead with Tinubu over a N225 billion debt owed by the bank and not the Papal inauguration.

“It’s obvious that the biggest business for blackmailers now is talking about Peter Obi from every negative perspective,” the LP chieftain wrote.

“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.

“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 concluded.

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