The Anambra government says Peter Obi, the former governor, prioritised savings in banks when the state was grappling with poverty, insecurity and major infrastructure deficits during his eight-year tenure.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Law Mefor, commissioner
for information and value reorientation, also accused Obi, the Nigeria
Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, of concealing his
administration’s debts in the handover note when he left office in 2014.
The latest statement escalates the heated exchange between
the Anambra state government and Obi over disputed loans and other financial
obligations allegedly left behind by his administration.
The state government has repeatedly said Obi left $123.77
million in debt at the end of his tenure, and that the loans were obtained for
projects, including malaria control, education, healthcare, erosion management,
community development, and value chain development.
But Obi has consistently denied the claim, maintaining that
he left more than $150 million in Anambra’s treasury at the end of his tenure.
He argued that the funds were more than sufficient to offset
the loans the state government claimed his administration left behind.
“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.”
Obi said if the money he left behind had been retained and
its interest used to service the loan, the debt would have been fully repaid by
now, while the $150 million principal would have remained intact and continued
to generate about $10 million annually for Anambra state.
On Friday, the Anambra state government released documents
alleging that Obi’s administration also left N363 million in salary arrears
owed to workers, in addition to other outstanding debts.
‘GOVERNMENT DOESN’T EXIST TO SAVE’
In the latest statement, Mefor questioned Obi’s claim of
savings during his administration, saying government exists to “improve the
security and welfare of the people, and not to save money and earn interest”.
The commissioner said the issue was not whether Obi saved
money, but whether saving funds and earning interest should have been
prioritised when citizens were facing poverty, insecurity, and inadequate
public services.
Mefor alleged that there were widespread development gaps
during the period Obi was governor, including poor infrastructure, weak public
health and education systems, lack of piped water and more than 900 active
gully erosion sites.
He also claimed that 78 of the state’s 179 communities had
no public primary schools, while many lacked functional primary healthcare
facilities, adding that targeted investment in human capital and infrastructure
could yield greater social and economic returns than the financial interest
generated by keeping money in banks.
The commissioner contrasted Obi’s savings argument with the
subsequent use of some of the funds by his successor, Willie Obiano, saying
that investments in development helped pull millions of people out of poverty
and improve security before the escalation of attacks by unknown gunmen in 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.
“Indeed, if government savings and interest income
constitute an indicator of governance performance, perhaps it should have been
one of the MDGs or SDGs, and governments would start competing as to who saves
the most rather than who improves the security and welfare of the people the
most.”
Mefor said Obi’s celebration of the savings and interest
income, amid hardship, might generate temporary public approval but represented
an unfortunate economic argument, except where such savings were used to smooth
revenue volatility over time.
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