The Anambra State Government has called on Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi to tender an unreserved apology to the people of the state over outstanding loans and other liabilities allegedly left behind at the end of his tenure as governor.
The Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, in a statement issued on Sunday amid the controversy over the financial position inherited from the Obi administration, said loans totalling $123,771,179.30 were outstanding but were not reflected in the former governor’s handover notes.
According to him, successive administrations, including the present administration, had continued to service the obligations through monthly deductions from the state’s allocations under the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
The commissioner said Peter Obi had issued a self-imposed challenge, adding that government records showed that eight loans from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank were contracted during his eight-year tenure.
He added that since the facts have challenged Peter Obi’s character and integrity, he has no choice but to take the path of honour and tender an unreserved apology.
The statement read, “After we provided unassailable evidence in response to his challenge, he and his supporters have been hair-splitting, trying to blame us, the victim of his challenge, for bursting the bubble or inventing all manner of new accounting theories to explain that one can have a balance sheet and conceal the liabilities side simply because the asset side is higher than the liabilities. That’s voodoo accounting!
“We have provided the dates and the amounts that his administration signed the loans, and this can be verified from the Debt Management Office (DMO), Abuja.
“As a responsible government and committed to ethical governance and politics, we remain ready to provide information that advances public interest. For H.E. Peter Obi, it is a matter of word, character and integrity.
“Without any provocation, you threw a self-imposed challenge. Now that the facts challenge your character and integrity, you have no choice but to take the path of honour: tender an unreserved apology to the government and people of Anambra State and Nigeria and move on.
“You don’t continue digging when you are already at the bottom of the hole.
“You cannot attack first and then end up as the victim at the same time. For us, it is only a matter of record. But since Mr Obi himself initiated this self-imposed challenge, daring anyone to prove that he left debts, it is only a matter of integrity and character that he owns up to the outcome.
‘You don’t have to go to DMO.’ H.E. Peter Obi, you do not have to ‘go to a bank or DMO’ before your borrowing can be perfected. All that is required is for you to sign the loan agreements, and your government did.”