Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has insisted that he left no debt when his tenure as governor of Anambra ended.
Obi, who left office in 2014 after serving two terms, spoke on Thursday during an interview on Arise News, while responding to claims that he left office with outstanding loans and liabilities.
The Anambra government, through Law Mefor, commissioner for information and value reorientation, had said Obi left $123.77 million in debt at the end of his tenure.
Mefor said the loans were obtained for projects, including malaria control, education, healthcare, erosion management, community development, and value chain development.
The NDC presidential candidate said the funds being described as debts were not loans he personally obtained from banks.
“I told you these are not loans. I didn’t go to the bank,” Obi said.
“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.
“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.
“If they just kept the money that I left and were using the income to pay the loan, they would have finished paying it now, with the capital of $150 million still remaining, and still giving Anambra state $10 million annually.
“Assuming your father left you an inheritance of $100 million, and suddenly somebody comes up and says your father is owing $10 million, are you going to go to the market and say your father left you with debts? You would be unfair.”
Obi said there was a difference between borrowing money and a state government receiving concessionary support from multilateral institutions.
According to Obi, the support was facilitated by the federal government and the World Bank.
“They (federal government) selected Anambra, Ekiti and Bauchi because these three states were doing well in education and said: why don’t we give them concessionary multilateral support to help them do better? It was a decision made by the federal government and the World Bank to give support,” Obi said.
Obi added that even if the debt claim were accurate, he had left enough funds in Anambra to repay the debts.