The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council has challenged former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi over his claims that he left the state without a debt burden, following fresh disclosures by the Anambra State Government.
In a statement made available to The News Chronicle by the spokesman for the APC Presidential Campaign Council Dele Alake, said Obi and his supporters had for years portrayed his eight-year administration as a model of fiscal discipline, including the claim that he handed over the state without outstanding debt.
Alake said the claim was contradicted by records recently released by the Anambra State Government in response to Obi’s demand that his record in office be verified.
According to the state government, Obi’s administration spent about $4.05bn, estimated at N5.4tn, during his eight years in office and contracted $123.77m in external loans.
The government also said that when Obi left office on March 17, 2014, the state had eight separate external borrowings for projects covering malaria control, erosion management, education and healthcare.
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It added that successive administrations, including that of Governor Chukwuma Soludo, had continued to service the loans.
Reacting to the disclosures, Alake argued that borrowing itself was not necessarily improper if the funds were used for development.
However, he questioned the discrepancy between the debt records and Obi’s repeated claim that he left Anambra financially sound.
The APC spokesman also accused Obi’s administration of failing to meet some of its obligations to workers, citing a 2006 memo from Obi’s then Chief of Staff, Chuks Ileogbunam, concerning unpaid salaries at the Anambra State Water Corporation.
In the memo dated April 25, 2006, Ileogbunam reportedly appealed to Obi to release the corporation’s N15m monthly wage bill, warning that workers could protest at the Governor’s Office over unpaid salaries.
The memo also referenced an undertaking Obi allegedly made during his campaign that he would resign as governor if there was any instance in which workers were not paid their salaries as and when due.
Alake argued that the alleged unpaid salaries and the debt records raised questions about Obi’s claims regarding his financial management of the state.
He further criticised Obi’s recent political activities, including a solidarity visit to an individual facing an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission trial, describing the development as troubling.
Alake concluded by challenging Obi to honour his reported pledge to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race if it was established that his administration left liabilities for Anambra State.
