The Anambra State Government has claimed that Governor Charles Soludo’s administration is still repaying loans and other debts incurred by previous administrations, including those of former governors Peter Obi and Willie Obiano.
The Commissioner for Finance in the state, Izuchukwu Okafor, disclosed this during a Ndi Anambra podcast.
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A video clip of the podcast was uploaded on Anambra State New Media’s Facebook page on Monday.
The podcast was moderated by Ejimofor Opara, a special assistant to Governor Soludo on new media.
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In the podcast, Mr Opara questioned why details in the budget performance reports indicated that the Anambra State Government has been servicing loans despite claims it had not borrowed before.
In response, Mr Okafor reiterated that Mr Soludo’s administration had not borrowed from any commercial bank since taking office but had continued to service loans inherited from previous governments.
“It’s on record, you know, that this administration has not borrowed a kobo from any commercial bank since the inception of this administration,” he said.
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The commissioner then explained that deductions were made from the state’s Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAC) funds every month to service loans obtained by previous administrations.
“Every month during our FAC meetings, and when you see the schedule of FAC, you will notice there were substantial, significant deductions from our own FAC because of loans previously borrowed by previous administrations,” he said.
Mr Okafor claimed some of the loans were obtained during the administrations of Mr Obi and the immediate past governor of the state, Willie Obiano.
“These loans were borrowed, you know, even during the time of Peter Obi and Willie Obiano, (and other) past governors,” he said.
The finance commissioner boasted that Mr Soludo’s administration had “significantly” reduced the state’s debt burden despite not borrowing any loans himself.
“We have been able to manage the debt, the state debt, very well, that we have brought it down by more than 83 per cent as of today. We’ve been able to repay back most of these loans,” he said.
He said the administration had also cleared several “legacy debts,” including unpaid contracts, gratuity arrears and pension arrears.
“But I will give you an example for our domestic debt. There’s what we call legacy debts, you know. That’s, the contracts that were not paid, the gratuity arrears, pension arrears, we’ve been able to clear all that,” he said.
The official also said the state’s domestic debt was “near-zero balance” at the moment.
What about external debts?
Mr Okafor claimed that, on the state’s external debts, some repayments were automatically deducted from federal allocations due to the state in accordance with the terms and conditions attached to the loans.
“Before they remit Anambra’s own allocation, they will deduct it as such, because most of them, World Bank loans and other loans, they committed.”
The commissioner also disclosed that the state had recently paid off one of its debts.
“This administration has been able to create more by paying off, you know, the backlog of numerous debts inherited from previous governments, starting from the time of Peter Obi,” he added.
READ ALSO: Soludo pledges support for journalists’ welfare, urges responsible reporting
Peter Obi’s position
Mr Obi, now the 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), served as the governor of Anambra State from 2010 to 2014.
The former governor and Mr Soludo have been engaged in a war of words in recent years.
Meanwhile, Mr Obi had repeatedly said that he was not owing anybody or institution while exiting office as governor.
He had challenged Nigerians to investigate his claims.
In fact, the NDC candidate said, while leaving office as Anambra governor, he left for the state a total of $50 million each in Access, defunct Diamond and Fidelity banks – totalling $150 million – with an interest rate of at least 6.5 per cent.
“If you calculate (all of them) today, the money (invested) would have been about N60 billion,” Mr Obi said in 2022.
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