The Anambra State Government has criticised former governor Peter Obi’s emphasis on the savings he left in the state treasury, arguing that government should prioritise citizens’ welfare and development rather than accumulating funds and earning interest.
In a statement on Saturday, Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, said Obi prioritised bank savings while Anambra faced poverty, insecurity and infrastructure deficits during his eight-year tenure.
Mefor also accused Obi, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, of failing to disclose some of the debts allegedly incurred by his administration in the handover documents when he left office in 2014.
The statement deepens an ongoing dispute between the Anambra government and Obi over the state’s financial obligations and the funds he says were left behind.
The state government has previously said Obi left $123.77 million in debt, with the loans reportedly linked to projects covering malaria control, education, healthcare, erosion management, community development and value-chain development.
Obi has consistently rejected the claim, maintaining that he left more than $150 million in Anambra’s treasury.
He said the funds were invested in various bonds and generated about $10 million annually, arguing that the returns could have been used to service the alleged debt while preserving the principal.
“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,” Obi 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.”
On Friday, the state government released documents alleging that Obi’s administration also left N363 million in salary arrears, alongside other outstanding obligations.
Government Challenges Savings Argument
Mefor said the central issue was not whether Obi saved money but whether accumulating savings and earning interest should have taken precedence over addressing the needs of residents.
“Government exists to improve the security and welfare of the people, and not to save money and earn interest,” he said.
The commissioner alleged that Anambra faced significant development challenges during Obi’s tenure, including inadequate infrastructure, weak public health and education systems, limited access to piped water and more than 900 active gully erosion sites.
He further claimed that 78 of the state’s 179 communities had no public primary schools, while many others lacked functional primary healthcare facilities.
Mefor argued that targeted investment in infrastructure and human capital could generate greater social and economic returns than the interest earned from keeping funds in banks.
He also pointed to the subsequent administration of Willie Obiano, arguing that investments in development helped reduce poverty and improve security before attacks by unknown gunmen escalated across the South-East from 2021.
“How much money would H.E. Peter Obi ascribe to the lives of the millions of people pulled out of poverty? Please, Your Excellency, Peter Obi: governance and development are different from trading where everything is primarily about profit and loss account without much consideration for human life,” Mefor said.
Mefor added that if savings and interest income were treated as the main measure of governance performance, governments could end up competing over how much money they accumulated rather than how effectively they improved security and citizens’ welfare.
He acknowledged that savings could have a role in managing revenue volatility but said celebrating savings and interest income amid hardship represented an economic argument he considered problematic.
Follow us on:
Author
