Anambra State’s government on Saturday refuted former governor Peter Obi’s claim that he left the state without any debt, saying his administration departed with eight external loans totalling about $123.7 million, as well as unpaid salaries and pension arrears.
Law Mefor, the state’s Commissioner for Information, issued a statement saying the government had previously avoided a public dispute with Obi but felt compelled to respond after the former governor challenged anyone to prove he left debt behind.
According to the statement, the loans were secured from the World Bank and the International Development Association during Obi’s two‑term tenure and are recorded in the Debt Management Office (DMO). The documents, however, were not included in the hand‑over notes that Obi left for his successor.
The Anambra administration, now in its fourth and a half year, asserted that it has been servicing the inherited obligations “without making noise,” paying “billions of Naira” toward debt service and salary arrears while not lodging complaints about any inherited liabilities.
In the same statement the government warned, “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.”
<small>Source: Daily Post Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
