Skip to main content

Billionaire businessman denies funding Obasanjo’s coalition


Billionaire businessman and founder of Aiteo Group, Mr. Benedict Peters, has denied social media reports that he is funding the new coalition reportedly being headed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Peters said this in a statement on Friday night.

He said, “For the record, I wish to state, categorically and unequivocally, that I am not a financier of the said organisation or any socio-political partisan association or political party in Nigeria or anywhere else in the world.

“As an international businessman of repute, I have deliberately stayed away from politics preferring, instead, to focus and give my all to the development of my business interests across the African continent.

“Corporate Social Responsibility contributions has seen the Aiteo Group, which I lead, provide investment support in medicine and medical research dedicated to seeking cures for several ailments which affect the African continent as well as investment in sport and sport as a panacea for the development of Africa’s teeming youth population.”

Peters, who is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission but was recently declared a legitimate businessman by Justice Ashi Valentine of an FCT High Court, said neither himself nor his company was supporting any political movement.

He said the reports were part of a grand plot to pit him against the Federal Government.

The businessman admitted that he was close to Obasanjo, adding that the former President and his late father were friends and he has remained close to Obasanjo for over 30 years.

Peters, however, stated that the former President had never discussed politics with him.

He added, “In the publishers’ indecent haste to malign the former president and I, amongst others, they demonstrated a shameful shallowness that paid no heed to the very personal nature of our relationship.

“For the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, I also confirm, categorically, that the former President has, on no occasion, discussed or mentioned any such plan or intention to me.  This situation very pointedly affirms the irrationality and farcicality of the allegations as a whole.”

The billionaire said he would be forced to take legal action against his detractors if they continued to spread rumours about him on social media.

Peters added, “As unconvincing and implausible as these allegations are, I am constrained to take steps to address these unbridled excesses as a means of protecting my family, my business and I from these unwarranted personal attacks.

“Accordingly, I have instructed my lawyers to immediately take steps to obtain a retraction, in the absence of which they are to take all steps available to provide me with protection, remedy and relief.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Michael Kors Buys Italy's Versace Fashion House For $2.12 Billion

Fashion company Michael Kors is buying Versace, the Italian luxury brand founded by Gianni Versace in 1978, for $2.12 billion. The two fashion houses made the announcement Tuesday, one day after speculation spread about a potential deal. Donatella Versace, the artistic director of the Milan-based fashion house who helped lead the company after her brother's death in 1997, said it's the perfect time for the company to join with Michael Kors. "It has been more than 20 years since I took over the company along with my brother Santo and daughter Allegra," Donatella Versace said in a news release. "I am proud that Versace remains very strong in both fashion and modern culture."

Flair, parties, the exuberant world of Ronaldinho

The man who once lobbed England’s David Seaman from 40 yards, Ronaldinho has officially hung up his boots following a career of backheels, nutmegs, no-look passes, and Parisian party nights. Tricks, flicks and stepovers, to watch Ronaldinho play in his prime was to savour a festival of the “jogo bonito” — the beautiful game in his native Portuguese — and that always with his goofy smile. Both on and off the pitch, Ronaldinho was a free spirit, almost as infamous for his nocturnal lifestyle as he was famous for his silky skills. And it was the former that perhaps contributed to a gradual petering out of what was nonetheless a trophy-laden career. World Cup winner in 2002, Ballon d’Or winner in 2005, Champions League winner in 2006 and Copa Libertadores winner in 2013, Ronaldinho won the lot for both club and country. “God has been good to me, he allowed me to live football,” Ronaldinho told So Foot magazine in July. “I loved what I did… and I had the satisfaction of enjoying myse

Islamic State releases purported audio message from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

The leader of the Islamic State group urged followers to burn their enemies everywhere and target "media centers of the infidels," according to an audio recording released Thursday that the extremists said was by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The reclusive leader of Islamic State, who has only appeared in public once, also vowed to continue fighting and lavished praise on his jihadis for their valor in the battlefield — despite the militants' loss of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in July. "You soldiers of the caliphate, heroes of Islam and carriers of banners: light a fire against your enemies," said al-Baghdadi, a shadowy cleric who has been surrounded by controversy since the Sunni terror group emerged from al-Qaida in Iraq, its forerunner. Russian officials said in June there was a "high probability" that al-Baghdadi had died in a Russian airstrike on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Raqqa, the group's de facto capital. US officials later said