The 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has refuted the claim by the Anambra State Government that he left $123.7 million debt when he exited office as governor.
Mr Obi, who served as the governor of Anambra State from 2006 to 2014, spoke when he appeared as a guest on Arise News’ Prime Time on Thursday night.
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PREMIUM TIMES reports that Governor Charles Soludo’s administration recently released loan records, claiming that Mr Obi’s administration took eight external loans between 2007 and 2013 which amounted to $123.7 million and that the sum has now been reduced with an outstanding balance of $92.35 million.
‘I didn’t take any loan as governor’
But speaking on the TV show, Mr Obi reiterated that he never took any loans while he served as governor of the state.
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“Let me state categorically again. I, Mr Peter Obi, did not approach any financial institution to borrow money or issue bonds on behalf of the Anambra State in the eight years I was in government,” he said.
The former governor argued that what Mr Soludo’s administration listed as eight external loans taken by his administration was a case of “a wrong public accounting.”
He explained that the facilities Mr Soludo’s government termed “external loans” were not funds he personally obtained from financial institutions, but funding arrangements supported by the federal government and the World Bank.
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“First is that those were concessionary development support obtained by the federal government of Nigeria. Call it on-lend to the state governments that are qualified for certain projects.
“These are concessionary facilities that are payable over a period of 25 to 35 years, with either no or small interest,” he said.
He recalled that Ekiti and Bauchi were the two other states which qualified to receive the concessionary multilateral support because of their outstanding performance in the education sector at the time.
“So it was a decision made by the federal government and the World Bank,” he stated.
Mr Obi, however, said that his administration did not use a substantial part of the concessionary facility before he left office.
“Even if I had gone to a bank and borrowed money, but I did not spend the money, you cannot call it debt I left.
“If I go to a bank and say ‘give me a loan of N10 billion’ and I only drew down N500 million. You cannot say I’m owing N10 billion because you know the amount,” he said.
“If you look at the State Education Programme Investment Project, you will see that the drawdown was well after I left office.”
The former governor then recalled that the then-Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Abraham Nwankwo, had invited him to chair his send-forth ceremony after his 10-year stint at the organisation.
“He (Mr Nwankwo) announced to everybody at that party that the reason why he made me chairman was because I was the only governor in Nigeria who never came to his office for approval to borrow money,” the former governor said, pointing out that DMO’s approval was compulsory for loan acquisition by any state.
What I left behind Vs alleged loan debt
Mr Obi also said that he left over $150 million in the treasury of Anambra State Government when he exited office as governor.
The NDC candidate stressed the savings were generating an income of over $10 million annually for the state, arguing that only the income could pay off the alleged debt if it was true.
“At the time I left office, the total component of my savings invested in various bonds was over $150 million, which gives Anambra State guaranteed income of about $10 million yearly.
“If they just kept that money that I left and was using the income to pay the loan, they would have finished paying it now with the capital, $150 million still remaining, and still giving Anambra State $10 million annually,” he argued.
“And now we are earning $20 million minimum for the state every year, and counting.”
The former governor estimated that the $150 million savings he left must have appreciated up to $335 million if the state government still left the savings untouched.
‘I owed no salaries, pensions and gratuities’
Mr Obi also maintained that he was not owing any salaries, gratuities and pensions as at the time he left office in 2014.
“On the day I left office, the government of Anambra State, which I served, was not owing any salary, gratuity or pension to those scheduled to be paid by the state government.
“We are not owing any contractor or supplier who has executed his job, certified and verified. Not one,” he said.
The former governor insisted that anybody who had not completed his project at the time he left office could not claim he was owed.
“When you don’t complete your job, we’re not owing you. It is when you complete your job, we verify, certify that we’re owing you,” he said.
Mr Obi also maintained that he left the state government in strong financial standing and then challenged any past Nigerian governor who can boast of saving up to $150 million to show himself.
“The day I left Anambra State as governor, I left it in a very strong financial standing,” he boasted.
“If you find any state or governor since the inception of this country, who said he left $150 million, show me one.”
The Anambra State Government has specifically alleged that Mr Obi owed salaries to workers at the Anambra State Water Corporation during his time as governor.
But responding during the TV show, the NDC candidate claimed the workers in the corporation were not part of those under the payroll of the government.
“The water corporation was not under the schedule of payment by the state government. They were just an agency established by the government,” he explained.
‘Publish it; go and ask banks’
Charles Aniogolu, the programme anchor, asked Mr Obi if he had any document to back up his claims.
READ ALSO; 2027: NDC gives Peter Obi, Kwankwaso power to pick campaign officials
The former governor then handed him a copy of his handover note which he said contained details of the state’s finances at the time he left office in 2014.
“I backed all the foreign currency components with the statements because that’s the area of dispute.
“So when I said I left over $150 million, you will see there. It’s documented. The banks where they are and how the bonds were issued, they’re there. Please, publish the document,” he said, urging the anchor to verify the details at the World Bank Office in Abuja and other commercial banks in Nigeria.
Background
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 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.
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 government released loan records arguing that Mr Obi’s administration took eight external loans worth $123.7 million, with $92.35 million outstanding.
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