Oseloka Obaze speaks on Peter Obi's debt claims, shares documents

Oseloka Obaze, former Secretary to the Anambra State Government, says Peter Obi, the presidential candidate for the Nigeria Democratic Congress, left N86.6 billion in Anambra's accounts when he finished his term as governor in 2014.

Obaze held the SSG position in Anambra when Obi was governor from 2006 to 2014.

In a post on his X account on Thursday, he said he was there on March 17, 2014, when Obi handed over a letter with the state's financial details to the new governor, Willie Obiano.

"I was also present when Governor Willie Obiano received and signed an acknowledgment for his own copy of the letter, complete with the annexed certified bank statements, related documents and the Handover Report," Obaze wrote.

He shared the handover letter on X, which Obi gave to Obiano, who served as governor until 2022 and then handed over to Charles Soludo.

"The letter listed assets and liabilities, in black and red (respectively)," he added.

PREMIUM TIMES notes that the handover letter shared by Obaze has been publicly available, including on social media, since Obi left office.

Obaze recalled that during a governorship debate in Anambra on November 12, 2017, which Channels Television organized, Obiano claimed there were no funds left by Obi's government.

"I remember asking him (Obiano) on national television how, as a certified accountant and auditor, he could sign off and accept financial documents, which he now had doubts about.

"He (Obiano) then publicly acknowledged for the first time that some funds were indeed available and asked what the point of saving money was when there was work to be done," he said.

Obaze then claimed that Darius Ishaku, the former governor of Taraba State, later told members of the Nigerian Press Corp that Obiano had informed him that Obi left "huge sums" of money that allowed him to build the Anambra Airport at Umueri.

"If Governor Obiano, to whom Peter Obi handed over in 2014, would ultimately acknowledge, both implicitly and explicitly, that Governor Peter Obi indeed left the stated funds; a fact also confirmed by Governor Alex Otti, in his role as an ex-banker, what then is the problem of the current Anambra State Government?" Obaze asked.

A review of the handover letter shows that Obi wrote and addressed it to Obiano, the incoming governor of Anambra State.

The letter, titled "2014 Anambra State Handover Report," was dated March 17, 2014, the last day of Obi's governorship.

"As Friday March 14, 2014, was the final working day of my Administration, I also forward herewith, the summary of the full financial statement of Anambra State (copies of which are herein attached) as at close of business on that day," Obi wrote in the letter.

According to the letter, N27 billion was committed to local investments, while N25.6 billion was for foreign currency investment, which is about $156 million.

Also, N28.27 billion was the balance for the certified state ministries, departments and agencies of the government, and N10 billion was refunded to the state by the federal government.

These figures brought the total assets and balances in the state’s accounts at that time to N91.67 billion.

However, Obi mentioned that he had set aside N5 billion from the N91.67 billion for paying estimated liabilities.

He listed the estimated liabilities as including March 2014 salaries, pensions, gratuities, and approved certificates of completed projects.

After deducting the N5 billion for these liabilities, the total left in the state’s accounts was N86.67 billion.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that Obiano's administration acknowledging the receipt of the handover letter does not automatically confirm the availability of funds. His government did not publicly verify the financial details at that time.

The state’s financial records, as presented by Obi's administration, were not jointly checked by both the outgoing and incoming administrations.

But during a Channels TV program before the 2017 governorship election, Obiano seemed to confirm some details from the handover letter.

"My predecessor (Obi) left N9 billion in cash and N25.6 billion in script issues, these are sovereign wealth funds and shares in other banks," he replied when asked by the program host, Seun Okinbaloye, about what he found upon taking office.

Obiano added: "If you put N9 billion with that (N25.6 billion), you get N35.5 billion, but he issued cheques worth over N15 billion before he left."

The state of Anambra's finances has been debated for a long time, but it came up again recently when the Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, claimed that Governor Charles Soludo’s administration was still repaying loans and debts from Obi and other past governors.

In a now-famous clip, Obi responded, saying he did not leave any debt in Anambra when he left office.

The former governor later repeated that he did not incur debt while in office but saved over N75 billion in the state's account.

In response, the Anambra State Government released loan records, stating that Obi's government took eight external loans between 2007 and 2013, totaling $123.7 million. They said the amount has now been reduced to an outstanding balance of $92.35 million.