The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, has insisted that he did not borrow money or issue bonds on behalf of Anambra State during his eight years as governor.
Obi, who spoke on Arise TV’s Prime Time programme on Thursday, said his administration left office in March 2014 without owing salaries, gratuities, pensions or contractors whose jobs had been executed, certified and verified.
The former governor was responding to questions over recent allegations by the Anambra State Government that his administration left outstanding debt and other liabilities for successive governments to service.
“Let me categorically state again: I, Mr Peter Obi, did not approach any financial institution to borrow money or issue bonds on behalf of Anambra State in the eight years I was in government.
“On the day I left office, the government of Anambra State, which I headed, was not owing any salary, gratuity, or pension to those scheduled to be paid by the state government.
We were not owing any contractor or supplier who executed his job, certified and verified—not one,” he said.
Obi said the loans being attributed to his administration were not funds he personally obtained from financial institutions, arguing that some of the funding arrangements were supported by the Federal Government.
“I didn’t go to obtain it. But what I’m saying, assuming that your father left you with an inheritance of N100m, and suddenly somebody comes up and says your father is owing N10m. Are you going to go to the market and say your father left you with debts? Unless there’s another thing, you’ll be unfair,” he said.
He explained that the Federal Government had selected Anambra, Ekiti and Bauchi states to receive concessionary multilateral support because of their performance in education.
“There’s a difference between I went to the bank to borrow money, then the Federal Government sees, ‘Oh, this state is doing well in education.’ They selected Anambra, Ekiti, and Bauchi and said, ‘These three states are doing well. Why don’t we give them a concessionary multilateral support to help them?’”
Obi said the funding, which involved the World Bank, was not obtained by Anambra from a commercial bank.
“Yes, and the World Bank,” Obi said, when the interviewer asked whether the funding was a decision by the Federal Government to provide support.
“To support us. Not that we go to the World Bank and say give me this, not that we go to any commercial bank. And to even make it more… when it came, if you look at State Education Programme Investment Project (SEPIP), you will see that the drawdown was well after I left office.”
