Obi Says Anambra Savings Could Cover Alleged $123m Debt

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has insisted he left no debt when his tenure as Anambra governor ended in 2014 after two terms.

Speaking Thursday during an interview on Arise News, Obi responded to claims that he left office with outstanding loans and liabilities. The Anambra government, through Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation Law Mefor, had said Obi left $123.77 million in debt, obtained for projects including malaria control, education, healthcare, erosion management, community development and value chain development.

“I told you these are not loans. I didn’t go to the bank,” Obi said, arguing that the funds described as debts were not loans he personally secured.

“As at the time I left office, the dollar components of my savings invested in various bonds were over $150 million, which gives Anambra state guaranteed income of about $10 million yearly,” he said. “Let me assume the worst-case scenario — which is false — that there was $123.7 million owed as of the time I left. I left over $150 million that was earning about $10 million. If they just kept the money that I left and were using the income to pay the loan, they would have finished paying it now, with the capital of $150 million still remaining, and still giving Anambra state $10 million annually.”

Illustrating his point, Obi said: “Assuming your father left you an inheritance of $100 million, and suddenly somebody comes up and says your father is owing $10 million, are you going to go to the market and say your father left you with debts? You would be unfair.”

Obi also drew a distinction between borrowing and receiving concessionary support from multilateral institutions, saying the arrangement was facilitated by the federal government and the World Bank. “They (federal government) selected Anambra, Ekiti and Bauchi because these three states were doing well in education and said: why don’t we give them concessionary multilateral support to help them do better? It was a decision made by the federal government and the World Bank to give support,” he said.

He maintained that even if the debt claim were accurate, he had left enough funds in Anambra to cover it.