Anambra debt: I never borrowed or issued bonds as governor — Obi insists

The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), 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 spoke on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Thursday while responding to allegations by the Anambra State Government that his administration left loans and other financial liabilities for successive governments to service.

The former governor said he left office in March 2014 without owing salaries, pensions, gratuities or contractors whose projects had been completed, certified and verified.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

Obi said some of the facilities being attributed to his administration were concessionary funds secured by the Federal Government and made available to states for specific development programmes.

He cited the State Education Programme Investment Project (SEPIP), saying Anambra was among three states — alongside Ekiti and Bauchi — selected for concessionary multilateral support because of their performance in education.

“Yes, and the World Bank,” Obi said when asked if the funding was provided through a Federal Government arrangement.

“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 SEPIP, you will see that the drawdown was well after I left office.”

The Anambra Government has maintained that loans contracted during Obi’s tenure remain liabilities of the state, with the government saying it continues to service them.

Obi, however, argued that undrawn funds under a loan facility should not be treated as debt incurred by his administration.

“Even if I had gone to a bank and borrowed money — even if I had gone to a bank and borrowed money, but I did not spend the money, you cannot call it debt I left,” he said.

He also cited former Debt Management Office Director-General, Abraham Nwankwo, who he said publicly stated at his send-off ceremony that Obi was the only governor who did not visit his office to seek approval to borrow money.

The former governor maintained that his administration’s financial record could be verified from official documents, including the handover report.