Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi has said reports that an investment he made in SABMiller has appreciated in value and is now worth $100m never emanated from him.
Obi said this in a letter to Chukwuma Soludo, governor of Anambra state, on Thursday, through his media aide, Valentine Obienyem.
The letter came after the Anambra State government clarified that the true worth of the shares depended on the current exchange rate of the dollars, while also saying that the shares were worth $3.7million or $5.7million in the parallel market, and this is far less than the inflated worth.
But Obi while reacting to the development through his media aide, Mr. Valentine Obienyem, on Thursday denied that the fake news on the inflated worth of the shares emanated from him.
He told Soludo to purge his mind of the perception that the Labour Party presidential candidate was fighting his government, stating that on the contrary, Obi was ready to work to ensure his success.
Obienyem while addressing Soludo urged him to differentiate between comments from supporters of Obi from those of Obi’s media office, saying:
“Anyone fighting Soludo at this early stage of his tenure is simply being inconsiderate and insensitive, I urge you to always sieve everyday reactions by people from the reaction from Mr. Obi’s official camp.
“Anybody supporting Obi that fights you is on his own. I say this with all sincerity, especially knowing the brief I personally received from Mr. Peter Obi on this. Obi is ready to offer any support that will redeem our state and set it on the path of progress again.”
The statement added: “When the news of the multiplication of Obi’s investment in SABMiller was published, I knew it did not come from you. I personally made it clear that it was not circulated by Obi’s Media, but probably by one of the youths, not under our control, but eager to throw in anything that glorified their hero – Obi.”
Speaking about the recent clarification on the true worth of the shares, Obienyem said: “I read the recent rebuttal by your Commissioner on the subject, what do I say about it? I only want to assure you that the Obi’s camp is supporting you. We want you to succeed and cannot be part of any plot against you.
“Some people are angry because we have chosen to identify with you; it is about time they realised that our only interest is recovering the eight years of retrogression.”
