OBI CHALLENGES ANAMBRA GOVT OVER ‘PHANTOM DEBTS’, ₦2BN ECOLOGICAL FUND
Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has challenged the Anambra State Government to prove claims that his administration left behind inherited debts, unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities and contractor liabilities.
Obi described the allegations as “completely false,” insisting that his administration cleared more than ₦35 billion in outstanding gratuities and arrears inherited from previous administrations.
He said that at the point of handover, Anambra owed nothing in salaries, gratuities or pensions, while contractors had been paid for projects that were duly executed and certified.
Obi also rejected claims surrounding a ₦2 billion ecological fund, saying the money was released about three months before he left office to address the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.
According to him, he resisted pressure to spend the money and deliberately left it untouched for his successor because the funds were tied to a specific project.
“The money was therefore left 100 per cent intact in First Bank, in Account No. 2018779464, with a balance of over ₦2.13 billion,” he said.
Obi added that funds earmarked for specific projects were excluded from the more than ₦75 billion in savings he said his administration left behind.
He then issued a direct challenge to the state government.
“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” Obi said.
