By Obinna Ilodibe
Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi says he handed over
the state government without outstanding salaries, gratuities or pensions due
for payment, insisting that contractors and suppliers whose completed work had
been certified were also paid.
Obi made the claim during an interview on Arise TV on
Thursday while addressing questions about loans and financial obligations
reportedly connected with his eight-year administration.
He said his government neither borrowed from financial
institutions nor issued bonds on behalf of Anambra State during his tenure.
According to Obi, the financial position of the state at the
point of handover was clear: workers whose payments had fallen due were not
owed, while contractors who had completed and passed verification of their
projects had also received what was due to them.
He drew a distinction between completed projects and
unfinished contracts, explaining that an unfinished project could not automatically
be regarded as an outstanding government debt.
Obi said payment obligations depended on the terms of each
contract and became due after the agreed work had been completed, inspected and
certified.
His comments came against the background of an ongoing
disagreement between his former administration and the present Anambra State
Government over loans and liabilities attributed to his time in office.
But Obi played down any personal dimension to the
disagreement with Governor Chukwuma Soludo, saying he respected Soludo as the
serving governor of the state.
The former governor also turned his attention to the wider
political climate, calling on state governors to provide a level playing field
for presidential candidates seeking to campaign ahead of elections.
He said Nigerians should be given the freedom to listen to
competing candidates and ultimately decide who they want to support.
Obi urged political leaders to keep their attention on the
country's pressing problems, particularly the economic difficulties facing
ordinary citizens, rather than allowing political disagreements to overshadow
issues that directly affect Nigerians.
His remarks place the question of Anambra's financial
obligations during his tenure at the centre of the continuing debate over the
state's borrowing, liabilities and fiscal management.
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