Former Anambra State Governor and Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has rejected claims by the Anambra State Government that his administration left behind inherited debts, including a ₦2 billion ecological loan.
Obi described the claims as “completely false”, insisting that his administration cleared historical liabilities and handed over a state free of outstanding salaries, gratuities, pensions and certified contractor debts.
In a statement posted on social media, Obi said his administration systematically liquidated historical gratuities and arrears dating back several years, with payments exceeding ₦35 billion.
He said that at the point he handed over the state, the government owed nothing in salaries, gratuities or pensions, adding that no contractor was owed for projects that had been duly executed and certified.
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Addressing the ₦2 billion ecological fund cited by the Anambra State Government, Obi said the money was released about three months before the end of his tenure for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.
He said he deliberately refused to spend the funds despite pressure to do so, insisting that the money should be left for his successor because government is a continuum and the funds were tied to a specific project.
According to Obi, the money remained intact in First Bank, with the account holding more than ₦2.13 billion at the time.
“The money was therefore left 100 per cent intact in First Bank, in Account No. 2018779464, with a balance of over ₦2.13 billion,” he said.
Obi also clarified that funds tied to specific projects or reserved for particular purposes were not included in the more than ₦75 billion in savings he said his administration left behind.
He maintained that the latest claims by the Anambra State Government amounted to what he described as “phantom debts” and an “ecological loan fallacy.”
Obi challenged anyone who could establish evidence contradicting his claims to do so, saying he was prepared to stop campaigning if it could be proven that his administration left the debts alleged by the state government.
“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” Obi said.
Obi’s clarification comes after the Anambra State Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, said the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo was still servicing loans and other debts inherited from previous administrations, including those of Obi and former Governor Willie Obiano.
Source: Politics Archives – New Telegraph
