ANAMBRA State Governor Willie Obiano and his prede­cessor, Chief Peter Obi, at the weekend launched verbal attacks on one another over the alleged N75 billion left-over in the treasury.

Speaking through his Sec­retary to the State Govern­ment (SSG), Prof. Solomon Osita Chukwulobelu at a Press conference held at Awka on Saturday, the gov­ernor said he had to break his silence over the N75 billion claimed to have been left by Mr. Obi. Governor Obiano said his predecessor actually left N9 billion.

However, Obi’s media aide, Valentine Obienyem, disagreed with the gover­nor’s claim, calling for a committee to investigate the matter.

In putting the record straight on the controversial N75 billion left-over, the Special Adviser on Media to the governor, Mr. James Eze, said in a statement yes­terday that “On the surface of it, this should be a happy ending to the long tale of a wise, prudent governor who is renowned for his frugality. After all, it is no mean feat to leave all of N9billion behind by a Nigerian public official.

“However, basic account­ing principles demand that once we look at assets, we must almost impulsively, also look at the liabilities. A look at the liabilities side of Obi’s hand-over notes in­dicates that out of the N185 billion due to be paid to con­tractors at the end of his two terms tenure, the former gov­ernor was only able to pay the sum of N78.9billion, leaving a staggering N106.2billion overhang on contractual debts alone. It would have been just okay if it hadn’t also come to light that the handover note throbs with so many half-buried skeletons. For instance, Obi’s categori­sation of the N9billion that his administration invested in the Nigeria Independent Power Project which the Federal Government uni­laterally exacted from the accounts of all states and lo­cal governments in the fed­eration, as part of the assets in the handover note does not smell very nice. Neither does the revelation that only N1.9billion was invested in Intafact Beverages Limited as against the N3.5billion declared by Obi in his handover note. Questions might be asked as to why the former governor had to make such a false declara­tion since all these accounts can be independently veri­fied and established by any­one who wishes to pursue the matter further.

“Already, questions are being asked as to why Obi should present this as part of his cash savings for Anam­bra State when in actual­ity, the N750million is the state’s equity holding in­herited from the investment made in the company in October 1961 by the former Premier of Eastern Nigeria, Dr Michael I. Okpara. The amount represents the 16.5 per cent equity share for the state. How a 54-year-old in­vestment made before the creation of Anambra State suddenly became liquid in­vestment in Obi’s Handover Note remains an enduring curiosity to many people.

“The perplexity grows even more with the discov­ery that Obi also seemed to have been too clever not to know that some of the in­vestments he brandished as part of his legacy are even not qualified to be classi­fied as investments. In point of fact, counterpart funding investments of N500million with the Bank of Industry to support SMEs in the state and additional N500million with the same bank to sup­port Micro Credit Banks in the state should not have been listed as part of the hefty N75billion left be­hind for Obiano. Neither should Obi have also cited the N480million counterpart fund with the Agric Bank, which was meant for support to farmers in the state as well as the N1billion he borrowed from the Federal Govern­ment for onward lending to farmers in the state as part of the heirloom handed to his successor.

“Similarly, Obi’s claim that the N10billion that the Federal Government is ex­pected to refund to the state for fixing some federal roads which has now shot up to N27billion is a part of the liquid asset he left behind is also vacuous and mis­leading. The truth is that no one knows how long it will take the Federal Govern­ment to meet this obligation, especially in the face of the present state of the economy. So far, Obiano’s strident ap­peal for this refund has not elicited the desired reaction from the federal govern­ment. How does this begin to qualify as an asset left by a prudent administrator?”

“Even so, it must also be noted that Obiano’s eventual breaking of silence on the contentious N75billion is a direct response to the endless campaign by Obi’s loyalists to reduce all his achieve­ments to the existence of a phantom N75billion legacy somewhere. Those close to Obiano can easily testify that he would have preferred to continue his tireless striving to build Anambra in silence, looking for creative ways to rev up Internally Gener­ated Revenue and sustaining the tempo on his agenda to transform the state. Howev­er, the relentless castigation of his administration and the virulent attacks on his family by people loyal to his prede­cessor has forced him to set the records straight.

“In the final analysis, it is never late to set the re­cord straight. It might take months or years but truth pressed to earth will rise again!”, Mr Eze said.

Countering Obiano’s aide in a statement yesterday, Mr. Obienyem expressed shock that the state government just realised after two years that what was handed over to them was not as stated.

Obienyem who said the word “Near cash” was alien to him as well as to all the experts on money, called on the state government to explain what they meant by that. He asked whether by “near cash”, they mean they received an unknown money or perhaps, Biafran pounds.

Obienyem said that the is­sues raised by the state gov­ernment were weighty that professional organisations such as the Association of Accountants from Anambra should independently set up a committee and investigate the true position of Anambra finances and report back to Anambra people.

“I am saying this because for two years they said noth­ing until they plan to mas­sively borrow money from the banks. I am aware that Obi left as follows: 27 bil­lion Naira in local currency investment; 26.5 billion Naira in foreign currency in­vestment; 28.1 billion Naira in Certified State/ MDS bal­ances.”

Obienyem said he was aware that Mr. Obi has all the certified bank balances of Anambra State accounts in different banks as at March 17, 2014, the day of hand-over, to warrant any­body trying to misrepresent facts on that. He wondered what would have happened to all the money Obi left if he was not professional enough to have documen­tary evidence.

On over N100 billion the state government said it in­herited from Obi, Obienyem said it was unfair to say such a thing. “When Obi became governor, he completed both Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju and Dr. Chris Ngige’s con­tracts such as Otuocha, Umuchu-Owelle-Ezukala, Awka Etiti roads.”

 [Daily Sun]