Governor Willie Obiano and his predecessor, Peter Obi, engage each other in a war of words that may determine the shape of Anambra politics in the days ahead, Special Correspondent, OKEY MADUFORO, reports.
Confusion currently rents the air in Anambra State over alleged hand-over of the sum of N75 billion in cash and investment to Governor Willie Obiano by his predecessor, Peter Obi.
On March 17, 2014, Obi had, during Obiano’s inauguration at the Women Development Centre, Awka, rendered account of his eight-year tenure where he informed his audience that he was leaving the amount in question to the governor.
The immediate impact of the announcement was that most Anambra people ran away with the impression that the sum was liquid cash kept in the coffers of the state. Coming at a time some of Obi’s counterparts had left their states with various regimes of indebtedness, the former governor was readily lionised. There were also palpable expectations on Obiano to hit the ground running in fixing the state.
Not that the governor has not been doing his bit in this exercise. But his administration, according to insiders, has often been confronted by stakeholders that its volume of work and speed in accomplishment are not at par with the volume of money presumably left for it by the Obi government.
Obiano draws blood
It was apparently in a bid to disabuse this impression and set the record right that Obiano’s aide cried out last week that actual amount the administration inherited from Obi was N9 billion and not N75 billion as announced by the former governor.
Also, the state government was said to have decided to blow the matter open following alleged reluctance of the House of Assembly to approve loan requests for the governor in view of the said N75 billion.
The disclosure, which was made by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Professor Solo Chukwulobelu, came to many as a surprise.
He said: “The N75 billion was not there; it was not handed over to anybody. At best, it can be half-truth. Instead, the state government inherited a total contract sum of N185.1 billion as liability from the Obi administration. In the real sense, what the Obiano administration inherited from Obi was N9 billion cash and N26 billion near cash.”
He said the explanation had become pertinent because of the ground the rumour of the N75 billion was gaining, both in the social and traditional media, adding that it took the state government this long to reply to the claim in order to put the rumour finally to rest and urged the public to discountenance the claim because it does not exist.
Critics, however argue that the disclosure by the government is not only belated but a mere after-thought. They contend that the governor ought to have raised alarm over the issue and impressed it upon the electorate that all that was left in cash for him was N9 billion.
Obi fires back
But in a swift reaction, Obi faulted the state government’s figures, describing it as a deliberate attempt to misrepresent facts.
His media aide, Valentine Obienyem, insisted that Obi left over N75 billion in cash and investment, adding that the breakdown shows that N27 billion was in local currency investment; N26. 5 billion in foreign currency investment and N28.1 billion in Certified State/MDS balances.
He said: “Even in the final hand-over document, Obi deducted N10 billion approved Federal Government refund, as well as the salary, pension, gratuity, money on certificates raised on contracts for the month of March which all amounted to N5 billion before arriving at the balance of over N75 billion he bequeathed to his successor.
“As a financial expert, Obi went to his end of tenure event with Governor Willie Obiano and said this in the presence of all the bank MDs in whose banks the monies are lodged. In fact, as at March 17, 2014 when he handed over, he got all the certified statements of Anambra’s accounts from the banks the monies were lodged and handed them over to his successor. If they were confused on where the monies were, why would they not call Obi who kept them to explain the whereabouts to them as much as he knew?”
He stressed that it is curious that the denial came at a time the state government had concluded arrangements to massively borrow money from banks and financial institutions, adding however that the administration did not need to paint the former governor black to do so, especially when, since leaving office, he has not for a day commented on what is happening in Anambra.
Obienyem’s explanation may have made impact, especially in the breakdown he made about the investments entered into while they were in office.
Senior government officials argue, however, that the investments are such that have to mature with time and cannot be accessed at the moment, adding that Obienyem failed to mention the liabilities handed over to Obiano by the former governor.
National Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Ifeatu Obi-Okoye, argued in the same line, describing the N75 billion issue as spurious.
Principal Secretary to Obiano, Willie Nwokoye, agrees, assuring that “the N9 billion cash left in government coffers by the predecessor is intact. All that we have done so far is from funds generated by our administration.”
Battle foretold
Even as the bubble seems to have eventually burst in the tenuous relationship between Obiano and his predecessor, not many informed followers in Anambra politics would see the unfolding development as a surprise. It was to them, rather, a disaster waiting to happen.
In fact, long before the hand-over on March 17, 2014, there were insinuations of imminent clash between them. What was really the issue between the governor and his predecessor was not immediately known. Some cited management of Obiano’s campaign fund, which allegedly flowed from Awka Government House, as the bone of contention. Others located the face-off on intrigues leading to the emergence of Obiano as the candidate of APGA in which Obi later found out that he had been outwitted.
Whatever may have been responsible for the impasse, the two seem headed for a showdown that may shape the turn of events in Anambra politics in the days ahead.
