Our Reporter
Rufai Oseni, Arise News anchor, has said that the $156 million Peter Obi left in the coffers of Anambra State Government was enough to pay off the alleged N127 million debts left behind for the Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s administration.
Rufai, who made the clarification on Friday during Arise Television’s ‘Morning Show,’ said “Let’s assume Peter Obi actually collected the loan, as the Anambra State Government claims.’’
Recall that Anambra State government has released what it described as the public debt records from Obi’s time as governor.
However, Obi, through the Interim Coordinator of the Obidient Movement, Yunusa Tanko, released his handover documents to counter claims by Soludo that his administration left behind loans and other financial liabilities.
The document dated March 17, 2024, contained a summary of Anambra State’s financial position as of the close of business on that day, indicating a net positive balance of over N86 billion.
Reacting, Rufai said, “If you remove the amount he left in the state’s account before leaving office, the foreign currency alone would be enough to clear the entire debt Governor Soludo claims he owes, unless there is another debt they are yet to show Nigerians.”
Obi Reacts to Anambra Debt Claims
Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has reacted to claims by the Anambra State Government that his administration left behind unpaid debts and loans still being serviced by the state.
Obi, who governed Anambra State from 2006 to 2014, said he settled all obligations due before leaving office, including salaries, pensions, gratuities and payments owed to suppliers and contractors.
He made the clarification in a video from the Voice of Ndi Anambra Podcast circulated on Monday, following comments by the state Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, that the state was still servicing loans obtained during the administrations of Obi and his successor, Willie Obiano.
Obi disputed the claim, saying his administration did not leave unpaid obligations that had been properly processed.
“As at the day I left office, I was not owing any salary, pension, or gratuity that Anambra State Government is supposed to pay,” Obi said.
“I was not owing any supplier or contractor that had executed his job and his documents processed, not one. The day I left office; I paid what was due to be paid. I wasn’t owing any contractors.”
Obi also spoke about an ecological fund which he said was in an account belonging to the state government when he left office.
According to him, the Federal Government released the money about three months before the end of his administration for a specific erosion-control project.
“The day I left office, I had an account in the First Bank of Nigeria, a branch in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, an ecological fund account with a balance of about N2.1 billion,” he said.
Obi said the money was not part of the funds available for general government spending because it had been set aside for a particular erosion project.
He said some members of his administration had suggested that the money be spent before he left office, but he rejected the idea because he believed government should continue from one administration to another.
“My people were saying, ‘let’s expend this money’. But I kept telling them, government is a continuity and I want the person coming after me to succeed,” Obi said.
The former governor challenged anyone disputing his account to check the bank records.
“I say it again, if you go to the account, I’m going to give you the account number. I have given you the bank and the branch. If you see anything contrary to the day I left office, I will stop campaigning,” he said.
