Anambra debt controversy: Peter Obi challenges Soludo government over $123.77m claim
By Wisdom Okeke |Ichie Times
Former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, has challenged the Soludo administration to explain how it arrived at the $123.77 million debt figure allegedly inherited from his tenure, insisting that the amount was wrongly presented and that official records showed a much lower external debt when he left office in March 2014.
Obi, in a statement addressing the controversy, said the government had allegedly combined approved funding, actual disbursements and outstanding balances from multilateral development programmes to arrive at the figure it attributed to his administration.
He explained that the eight facilities in question were mainly World Bank and International Fund for Agricultural Development programmes negotiated by the Federal Government, with participating states accessing the funds through subsidiary arrangements.
According to him, the programmes were concessionary development support facilities with repayment periods of 25 to 30 years, rather than conventional commercial loans secured by him personally.
Obi cited Debt Management Office records which, according to his statement, put Anambra’s external debt at about $30 million in March 2014, when he left office, and approximately $45.15 million by December of that year.
He questioned how the state could have inherited $123.77 million from his administration when the published figures he cited showed a lower external debt balance.
The former governor also claimed that he left more than $150 million in dollar denominated investments for the state, which he said could have generated about $10 million annually. He maintained that the funds could have helped address the debt obligations if retained and properly managed.
Obi further insisted that his administration left no unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities or verified payments owed to contractors and suppliers.
He said he had no disagreement with Governor Chukwuma Soludo and urged political leaders to focus on the economic hardship facing Nigerians, while allowing candidates across political parties to campaign freely.
Obi concluded that he would not engage in further exchanges over his tenure, saying his attention remained on national issues and his presidential ambition.
