Peter Obi’s team disowns false investment claims
Doyin Okupe, the director-general of Peter Obi campaign organisation, has disavowed a false investment claim the presidential hopeful made in a 2018 interview. In his denial, Okupe tweeted: “Our attention has been drawn to a statement credited to HE Gov Soludo concerning quadripulling of investment made by Peter Obi as gov of anambra.This statement is not from him or d (sic) campaign organisation.”
However, a video in which Obi actually made the claim has contradicted Okupe’s denial. Obi, in the said interview, claimed he invested state funds in the defunct SAB miller, which translated into a bounty yield.
He said, “Anambra state is the single-highest shareholder in that facility. I invested in it, over $20 million. It is worth almost $100 [million] today. That’s what government should do.” The claim however turned out to be untrue, forcing the Anambra state government to join issues with the presidential hopeful.
The incumbent government clarified Obi actually invested the sum of N1,955,535,247.00 (an equivalent of approximately $12,616,356.43 at the then average CBN exchange rate of N155.00/$1) in Intafact Beverages Limited, a green-field brewery set up in Onitsha by SABMiller Breweries of South Africa in 2012. But, the government puts the current worth of the investment at US$5,388,495.37.
