Anambra still repaying loans inherited from Obi, Obiano – Soludo government

The Anambra State Government has said it is still servicing loans and other financial obligations inherited from previous administrations, including those of former governors Peter Obi and Willie Obiano.

The state Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, disclosed this during a Ndi Anambra podcast, according to a video clip of the programme shared on the Anambra State New Media Facebook page on Monday.

Okafor said the administration of Governor Charles Soludo had not obtained any loan from a commercial bank since assuming office, stressing that the debts currently being serviced were inherited from previous governments.

“It’s on record, you know, that this administration has not borrowed a kobo from any commercial bank since the inception of this administration,” he said.

The commissioner explained that repayments for some of the inherited loans are deducted from the state’s monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee funds before the money is remitted to Anambra.

According to him, the deductions have continued to affect the funds available to the state because of loans secured by previous administrations.

“Every month during our FAC meetings, and when you see the schedule of FAC, you will notice there were substantial, significant deductions from our own FAC because of loans previously borrowed by previous administrations,” he said.

Loans inherited from past administrations

Okafor specifically attributed some of the loans being serviced to the administrations of Obi and Obiano, while also noting that other past governors had incurred financial obligations on behalf of the state.

“These loans were borrowed, you know, even during the time of Peter Obi and Willie Obiano, (and other) past governors,” he said.

The commissioner said the Soludo administration had focused on reducing the inherited debt burden rather than accumulating new commercial bank loans.

He claimed that the state’s overall debt had been reduced by more than 83 per cent under the current administration.

“We have been able to manage the debt, the state debt, very well, that we have brought it down by more than 83 per cent as of today. We’ve been able to repay back most of these loans,” he said.

Okafor also said the government had cleared several other liabilities inherited from previous administrations, including unpaid contracts, gratuity arrears and pension arrears.

He described the state’s domestic debt position as being at a “near-zero balance”, attributing the development to the repayment of outstanding obligations.

External debt repayments

Speaking about the state’s external debts, the commissioner said repayments were being made through deductions from federal allocations to Anambra.

He explained that the deductions were part of the terms and conditions attached to some of the loans secured by the state, including World Bank-related loans.

“Before they remit Anambra’s own allocation, they will deduct it as such, because most of them, World Bank loans and other loans, they committed,” he said.

Okafor further disclosed that the state government had recently paid off one of its outstanding debts as part of efforts to reduce the financial obligations inherited from previous administrations.

He said the administration had been clearing a backlog of liabilities accumulated over several years, including those dating back to the period when Obi governed the state.

“This administration has been able to create more by paying off, you know, the backlog of numerous debts inherited from previous governments, starting from the time of Peter Obi,” he said.

Obi’s position

The latest claim by the Anambra government comes amid the long-running disagreement between Soludo and Obi over the financial position of the state at the end of Obi’s tenure.

Obi, who served as governor of Anambra State from 2010 to 2014 and is now the 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, has repeatedly maintained that he did not leave the state indebted when he left office.

The former governor has challenged Nigerians to investigate his claim that he left Anambra financially stronger than he met it.

Obi has also repeatedly said that his administration left $50 million each in Access Bank, the defunct Diamond Bank and Fidelity Bank.

According to him, the three deposits amounted to $150 million and were placed at an interest rate of at least 6.5 per cent.

“If you calculate (all of them) today, the money (invested) would have been about N60 billion,” Obi said in 2022.

The disagreement over Anambra’s finances has remained one of the recurring issues between Obi and Soludo, with both political figures offering different accounts of the state’s financial position and the liabilities inherited from previous administrations.