Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi allegedly left $155 million behind when he left office, according to Abia State Governor Alex Otti.
In an interview with ARISE Television, Otti made this statement.
The records of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate during Obi’s tenure as governor have sparked a verbal spat between the Anambra State administration and Obi.
When Obi concluded his governorship, Otti was the CEO of Fidelity Bank.
But Otti talked about how Obi left money in Anambra in a piece he published after leaving the bank.
Otti’s remarks regarding Obi’s record were brought up when the Anambra financial issue reappeared.
Otti emphasised that he had no need to retract the report he provided at the time and stated in his ARISE TV appearance that he made the assertion six years ago to demonstrate that public officials could manage government finances responsibly.
They’re talking about what I wrote back in 2020. That was, I believe, June 8, 2020. Otti stated, “I was using it to show that people can still be prudent in government.”
He claims that Obi, the governor at the time, had originally planned to hold the money in naira before converting it to dollars due to worries about the naira’s ongoing decline.
It’s a description of what took place. As the bank’s CEO at the time, I had advised him not to leave the money in naira. When he approached me, I told him that the naira would continue to lose value.
It was changed to dollars, which is probably what you wanted to accomplish.
It’s a factual remark about an incident that occurred six years ago. They are referring to the fact that I haven’t talked since.
In a different interview with Arise News yesterday, Obi denied that he left Anambra with over $123 million in debt, claiming instead that he gave over $150 million.
The former governor claimed that even if the state owed $123.7 million when he departed, the money he left behind could have been used to pay down the debt while maintaining the capital.
“Let me assume the worst-case scenario: that there was $123.7 million outstanding at the time I left, even if Anambra State was correct—which is untrue—that I did not leave $123 million. Obi stated, “I left over $150 million that was making roughly $10 million a year.
Any presentation that coupled the purported debt with the money he claimed to have left behind was “very wrong public accounting,” according to him.
Additionally, Obi insisted that during his eight years in office, he neither issued bonds nor borrowed money on behalf of Anambra.
He said that there were no unfulfilled commitments to contractors or suppliers whose work had been certified and verified, nor were there any overdue salaries, gratuities, or pensions that the state owed.
According to Obi, Anambra’s foreign debt increased from roughly $18 million when he took office to about $30 million when he resigned in March 2014.
He said that the loans from the World Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development mentioned in talks on the state’s debt were concessionary facilities acquired by the federal government and then given to states for certain development initiatives.
Additionally, Obi claimed that his handover documents included bank statements proving his claim of more than $150 million, as well as information about the cash, investments, and foreign currency holdings he left behind.
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