Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, on Thursday, September 24, insisted that he did not borrow money or issue bonds on behalf of Anambra state during his eight year tenure.
Obi made the statement on Thursday, where he responded to recent claims by the Anambra state government that his administration left outstanding debts and other liabilities for successive governments to service.
The former governor said his administration left office in March 2014 without owing salaries, gratuities or pensions to workers due for payment.
He also said the state did not owe contractors or suppliers whose projects had been executed, certified and verified.
On loans linked to his tenure, Obi explained that some of the funding arrangements were concessionary support facilitated by the federal government and the World Bank rather than commercial loans directly obtained by his administration.
He specifically cited the state education programme investment project, saying the drawdown occurred after he had left office.
Obi argued that an approved loan facility should not automatically be regarded as a debt incurred by the government where the full amount had not been drawn.
He said that even if the entire facility had been accessed, Anambra would still have had sufficient funds to meet its obligations.
To support his position, Obi referred to former director-general of the debt management office, Abraham Nwankwo, whom he said had publicly stated that he was the only governor who never visited the office to seek approval to borrow money.
The dispute followed recent claims by the Anambra State Government that eight external loans linked to previous administrations remained outstanding.
The state government said the loans had an outstanding balance of about N127.4 billion as of June 30, and were being serviced from federal allocations.
The commissioner for information and value reorientation, Law Mefor, said the loans covered projects including healthcare, education, malaria control and erosion management.
The state government also disputed Obi’s claim that he left more than N2.13 billion in an ecological fund account, saying the account identified by him was an internally generated revenue consolidated account.
Mefor further alleged that some salary and gratuity arrears from Obi’s tenure were later addressed by the administration of governor Chukwuma Soludo.
Obi, however, maintained that his administration had cleared more than N35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears and left office without outstanding salary, pension or gratuity obligations.
He has previously challenged the state government to prove that his administration left the liabilities it has attributed to his tenure, saying he would stop his 2027 presidential campaign if the claims were established.
The disagreement over Anambra’s debt position remains contested, with Obi maintaining that he left the state financially sound while the state government maintains that records show outstanding liabilities associated with previous administrations.
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