‘ I’ll Stop Campaigning If You Prove I Left Debt,’ Peter Obi Challenges Soludo

The 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has challenged Governor Charles Soludo’s administration to prove that he (Mr Obi) incurred debts when he exited office as governor of Anambra State.

Mr Obi, in a Facebook post on Tuesday, vowed that he would stop his 2027 campaign if Mr Soludo’s administration establishes that he (Mr Obi) owned any debt as governor of the state.

The claim and response
The NDC candidate’s challenge followed a claim by the Commissioner for Finance in the state, Izuchukwu Okafor, during a podcast in which he alleged that Governor Soludo’s administration was still repaying loans and other debts incurred by Mr Obi and other past governors of the state.

The commissioner further claimed that Mr Obi, who served as governor from 2006 to 2014, also did not repay N2.1 billion ecological funds.

In his first response during an interview in Washington, DC, USA, Mr Obi maintained that he was not owing any debt in Anambra when he left office as governor of the state.

“As at the day I left office, I was not owing any salary, pension, or gratuity that Anambra state government is supposed to pay,” he said.

Continuing, the NDC candidate added: “I was not owing any supplier or contractor that had executed his job and his documents processed, not one.

“The day I left office; I paid what was due to be paid. I wasn’t owing any contractors.”

In his second response via his Facebook post on Tuesday, the former governor described the claim that he left debt, including N2.1 billion ecological funds, as “completely false.”

He explained: “We systematically liquidated historical gratuities and arrears dating back several years, amounting to over ₦35 billion.

“At the point of handover, the state owed nothing in salaries, gratuities, or pensions, nor did we owe anything to any contractor for projects duly executed and certified.”

On the N2.1 billion, Mr Obi stressed that his administration received the funds from the federal government about three months before he left office.

He explained that he kept the funds in the state government’s account for the then-incoming government of Willie Obiano who succeeded him in 2014.

Mr Obi said officials of his government had suggested spending the money before he left office, but he declined because the fund was for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis which he wanted his successor to handle with the funds.

The former governor then challenged Mr Soludo’s administration to prove him otherwise and he would stop his presidential ambition.

“The (ecological) money was therefore left 100 per cent intact in First Bank, in Account No. 2018779464, with a balance of over ₦2.13 billion.

“It is important to stress that funds tied to specific projects or set aside for particular purposes were not even included in the over ₦75 billion in savings we left behind.

“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” he said.

SOURCE: PREMIUM TIMES