THROWBACK: What I met in govt coffers on taking over from Peter Obi

There have been intense exchanges between Governor Charles Soludo’s administration and the 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, concerning the financial status of Anambra State when he exited office as governor.

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Mr Obi served as governor of the South-eastern state from 2010 to 2014, when he handed over to Willie Obiano.

Mr Obiano governed from 2014 to 2022 before Mr Soludo stepped into the cockpit of power.

Mr Soludo’s second and final term of four years in office will elapse by 17 March 2030.

The trio served on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), although Mr Obi switched to the PDP shortly after exiting office.

How the exchanges began

The state of Anambra’s finances has long been a subject of debate, but the issue resurfaced recently when the Commissioner for Finance in the state, Izuchukwu Okafor, claimed that Governor Charles Soludo’s administration was still repaying loans and other debts incurred by Mr Obi and other past governors of the state.

Responding to the claim in a now-viral clip, Mr Obi said he was not owing any debt in Anambra when he left office as governor of the state.

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The former governor subsequently reiterated that he did not incur any debt as governor but rather saved over N75 billion in the state’s account.

In response, the Anambra State Government released loan records, arguing that Mr Obi’s administration reportedly took eight external loans between 2007 and 2013, amounting to $123.7 million, and that the sum has now been reduced to an outstanding balance of $92.35 million.

Obiano govt position

In November 2015, Mr Obiano said, upon assuming office, he inherited a debt of N185 billion from Mr Obi’s administration.

Daily Trust newspaper reported that the then-governor, speaking through then-Secretary to the Anambra State Government, Solo Chukwulobelu (SSG), said he did not find N75 billion in the state’s treasury, as claimed by Mr Obi.

Again, in 2017, a former National Chairman of APGA, Victor Umeh, reiterated that Mr Obi’s claims of saving N75 billion were false.

The former APGA leader maintained that Mr Obi did not mention the sum in his handover note to Mr Obiano.

Mr Umeh, now a senator, stressed that the former governor left a debt of N185 billion upon leaving office.

The politician, however, acknowledged that Mr Obi invested dollars in bonds that Mr Obiano’s administration would be unable to access due to their long maturity periods.

“Some will mature in 2030,” he had said.

For context, at the time of Mr Umeh’s comment, he and Mr Obi were in a face-off ahead of the 2017 Anambra Governorship Election, which was held on 18 November of that year.

While Mr Umeh, then an APGA chieftain, favoured Mr Obiano’s re-election, Mr Obi backed Oseloka Obaze, the then-PDP gubernatorial candidate, in the election, which Mr Obiano eventually won.

More information on the N185 billion debt and savings

Channels TV aired the news story in which Mr Chukwulobelu, a professor, detailed, on behalf of the governor, the current financial status of Anambra State that Mr Obiano’s government inherited from Mr Obi.

“As at March 2013, what was then in the bank balance (of Anambra State Government) was N9 billion,” he declared.

On debt inherited, he said: “The current (Mr Obiano’s) administration, on March 17 (2013), inherited current liabilities and contingent liabilities, totalling N185 billion.”

The then-SSG explained what he meant by “current” and “contingent” liabilities.

“These (current and contingent liabilities) are (cost of) roads that were awarded by previous administration and were still ongoing.

“The total of those (liabilities), if they are to crystallise at once, was N185 billion.”

Mr Chukwulobelu did not give separate figures for both “current and contingent liabilities.”

However, his explanation suggested that Mr Obiano’s administration merged both active debts as well as debts expected to arise from ongoing projects initiated by Mr Obi’s administration.

Meanwhile, while appearing as a guest on Channels TV programme shortly before the 2017 governorship poll, Mr Obiano corroborated his then-SSG’s position that Mr Obi left N9 billion in cash.

“My predecessor (Mr Obi) left N9 billion in cash and N25.6 billion in script issues – these are sovereign wealth funds and shares in other banks,” he had responded after the programme anchor, Seun Okinbaloye, asked him to detail what he met on the ground.

The then-governor added: “If you put N9 billion to that (N25.6 billion), you get N35.5 billion, but he issued cheques worth over N15 billion before he left.”