Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, was prevented from holding a private meeting with President Bola Tinubu at his hotel during their recent visit to Rome, Italy, SaharaReporters has learned.
Photos of Tinubu, Obi, and former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi briefly engaging at Pope Leo XIV’s installation mass on Sunday surfaced on social media, sparking speculation about a political reconciliation between the 2023 election rivals. The global event, held at the Vatican, was attended by world leaders and dignitaries.
Presidential aide Bayo Onanuga confirmed the moment in a social media post, noting that Fayemi, also a Papal Knight, persuaded Obi, a fellow Catholic, to approach and greet President Tinubu at the event.
However, SaharaReporters earlier reported that Obi’s trip to Rome was not merely a religious gesture. According to sources familiar with the matter, the visit was a high-stakes effort to seek Tinubu’s intervention in a financial crisis facing Fidelity Bank Plc.
The bank, where Obi once served as chairman and in which he still reportedly holds a significant stake, is facing a ₦225 billion judgment debt stemming from a longstanding legal battle with Sagecom Concept Limited.
Sources said Obi had attempted to arrange a private meeting with the President at his hotel, but the Presidency declined, insisting that any interaction must occur publicly. The brief Vatican exchange was therefore orchestrated as a compromise.
Obi and Tinubu have remained on opposite sides of Nigeria’s political divide since the 2023 presidential election, with Obi emerging as one of Tinubu’s most vocal critics. Their unexpected encounter in Rome triggered mixed reactions among supporters of both men.
Upon returning to Nigeria, Obi addressed the viral photo, downplaying any political motive behind the trip. Speaking in Abuja after donating ₦20 million to Saint Andrews Anglican Church in Kubwa Diocese, he said, “Myself and the President are not fighting. We went for a church service in Rom.”
SaharaReporters’ earlier findings indicate that the trip was arranged specifically to secure a face-to-face conversation with Tinubu, amid growing concern over Fidelity Bank’s financial exposure.
However, a senior government source told SaharaReporters that after the widely publicised encounter at the Vatican, Obi made an attempt to meet President Tinubu privately at the hotel where the Nigerian leader was staying, but he was denied access.
“They are supposed to have follow-up meetings,” the source said. “Peter Obi was blocked from meeting Tinubu in the hotel after they met at the Vatican.”
The debt at the centre of the crisis stems from a protracted legal dispute with Ibadan-based Sagecom Concept Limited. In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court affirmed earlier judgments that found Fidelity Bank jointly and severally liable—alongside construction firm G. Cappa Plc—for substantial special damages resulting from lost rental income on a high-end property in Ikoyi, Lagos.
With daily interest compounding at 19.5% per annum, the debt has surged to $139.3 million, approximately ₦224.5 billion as of May 20, 2025.
Sources told SaharaReporters that in a bid to rally support before heading to Rome, Obi held a series of consultations with influential Nigerian figures, including Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, and former Ekiti governors Ayodele Fayose and Kayode Fayemi. It was Fayemi who ultimately agreed to travel with Obi to the Vatican, where they sought a crucial meeting with President Tinubu.
“Peter Obi’s visit to Rome was to meet President Tinubu to help intervene and prevent the bankruptcy of Fidelity Bank over the issue,” one of the sources said.
“Prior to visiting Rome to meet President Tinubu, Peter Obi had met Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Ooni of Ife, former Ekiti Governor Ayodele Fayose and eventually former Ekiti Governor Kayode Fayemi, who accompanied him to Rome to solve the problem.”
However, the Presidency reportedly resisted holding such a meeting behind closed doors, insisting that any interaction with the President must take place in public view.
“That was the reason why Obi met President Tinubu at the Vatican,” the source added.
This prompted the strategic appearance of both Obi and Fayemi at the installation mass of Pope Leo XIV on Sunday, where they greeted Tinubu during the global event attended by dignitaries and world leaders.
“Don’t pay attention to the propaganda by his team members; Peter Obi was not invited to the papal inauguration. In fact, he never planned to attend because he had already attended Pope’s burial,” one of the sources said.
“The impromptu trip was arranged for him to meet with Tinubu over Fidelity Bank’s issue.”
Meanwhile, Fidelity Bank continues to publicly insist that its actual liability is only about ₦14 billion, while claiming $633,750 in other documents, a claim sharply at odds with court-awarded figures now nearing ₦225 billion.
Meanwhile, the judgment against Fidelity Bank stems from a dispute that dates back years and involves a credit facility originally issued by the defunct FSB International Bank.
In a unanimous ruling delivered by five justices of the Supreme Court on April 11, 2025, the apex court upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal, which had affirmed the judgment of the High Court of Lagos, Ikeja Division, delivered on January 20, 2018.
The Supreme Court ordered Fidelity Bank to pay the full amount in damages to Sagecom Concept Limited.
Despite the judgment, Fidelity Bank maintains that the amount due is significantly lower. In a statement released on Monday, the bank said it was committed to complying with the Supreme Court’s decision but pegged its liability at approximately ₦14 billion.
In its abridged prospectus dated June 5, 2024, issued for a public offering by way of an offer for subscription of 10 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at ₦9.75 per share, Fidelity Bank disclosed a different amount.
The bank said it had three cases where judgment had previously been delivered against it.
It claimed that the “total monetary sum in the Three (3) cases in which judgment was delivered against the Bank is ₦150,000,000.00 (One Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) and USD$633,750 (Six Hundred and Thirty-Three Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty United States Dollars) excluding interests, which may accumulate on the judgment sum until same is finally liquidated.”
As of May 20, 2025, $633,750 was valued at ₦1,020,952,237.50 using the exchange rate of ₦1,610.97 per dollar, a figure that falls significantly short of the approximately ₦225 billion claimed.
