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.

“The self-proclaimed ‘blackmailer-in-chief’ and others who profit from spreading pain and falsehoods have claimed that I own Fidelity Bank. For the record, I do not. Throughout my career, I have served as Chairman or Director of three banks and financial institutions, one of which is Fidelity.
Fidelity has over 500,000 shareholders, none of whom hold a majority stake. What these blackmailers seek is to harm hardworking Nigerians and cause unnecessary distress,” he added.