Anambra State Debts: Peter Obi Swears To Affidavit At Supreme Court

Mr Peter Obi, Presidential Candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 elections, has gone to the Supreme Court of Nigeria to swear an affidavit based on his responses to questions revolving around his stewardship as Governor of Anambra State, particularly with regard to the monies he left behind.

The affidavit dated September 26, 2017, reads unedited:

AFFIDAVIT OF FACTS BY MR. PETER OBI, CON, FORMERLY GOVERNOR OF ANAMBRA STATE, IN RESPONSE TO THE QUESTIONS POSED BY THE CIVIL LIBERTIES ORGANISATION, CLO, SOUTH EAST CHAPTER, AS CONTAINED IN VARIOUS MEDIA PUBLICATIONS, INCLUDING THAT IN THISDAY ISSUE OF 19TH SEPTEMBER, 2017

I, MR. PETER OBI, CON, adult, male, Christian, a Nigerian citizen of 22 Niger Drive, G.R.A., Onitsha, Anambra State, do hereby make oath and say as follows:

1. My attention has been drawn to different media publications containing questions stated to be posed by the Civil Liberties Organisation, CLO, South East Chapter, bordering on my alleged activities/stewardship as the All Progressives Grand Alliance Governor of Anambra State and with the incumbent Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State, as well as alleged financial improprieties.

2. Since I left office as the Governor of Anambra State on March 17, 2014, I chose not to be keen on replying to issues about my person, as I believe those are part of the expectations of service in the public space. However, such issues that border on my integrity and coming from a recognised entity/organisation definitely require a reply since they revolve around public trust. In view of the trust reposed in me by the public, which I hold dear, I have, therefore, chosen to respond to the recent publications by the Civil Liberties Organisation, CLO, South East Chapter, including that in the ThisDay Newspaper publication of Tuesday, September 19, 2017 (hereinafter attached as EXHIBIT 1), in the manner stated below.

ECOLOGICAL FUND:

3. Item 1 questioned the whereabouts of the N2 billion received from the Federal Government Ecological Fund while I was in office. This fund was received about six months before my leaving office. I had taken a position with my colleagues in government that since we were finishing strong in our vision of achieving the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, we would ensure that the incoming government equally started strong in order to build on already achieved results, as well as effectively embrace the coming Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs. One of the major visions of MDGs being ensuring environmental sustainability, which includes appropriately tackling erosion, we decided to leave the money for the incoming government to ensure that the continuity promised started on a solid footing.

WE, THEREFORE, SET ASIDE IN ANAMBRA STATE GOVERNMENT CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNT, FIRST BANK ACCOUNT NO. 2018779464, THE SUM OF N2,139,951,400.00 (TWO BILLION, ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINE MILLION, NINE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE THOUSAND, FOUR HUNDRED NAIRA) AS AT MARCH 17, 2014, BEING THE PROCEEDS OF THE N2 BILLION OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ECOLOGICAL FUND PLUS THE ACCRUED INTEREST ON THE AMOUNT.

SURE-P (SUBSIDY ACCOUNT):

4. As stated in Item No. 1 in paragraph 3 above, as our government was running under a healthy financial stability and meeting up with its monthly financial obligations without any problem, we decided that all State receipts under Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, SURE-P, be set aside for future infrastructural development. We intended that this future infrastructural development would be carried out under the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs vision, which included providing clean and healthy water in Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi. THUS ALL THE STATE GOVERNMENT RECEIPTS FROM SURE-P WERE SET ASIDE IN ANAMBRA SUBSIDY ACCOUNT SAVINGS FUND IN DIAMOND BANK ACCOUNT NO. 0026290200 THE SUM OF N4,909,576,925.98 (FOUR BILLION, NINE HUNDRED AND NINE MILLION, FIVE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SIX THOUSAND, NINE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE NAIRA AND NINETY-EIGHT KOBO) AS AT MARCH 17, 2014.

UBEC ACCOUNT:

5. Following our vision of MDGs in which one of the most critical goals is Education, and with our strong belief that the greatest investment a society can make is in education, especially Universal Basic Education, it became imperative that we ensured that our educational system is adequately funded, especially after handing over schools to the missionaries. We also believed that the more there is investment in education, the more prosperous the society can become. TO ENSURE THE CONTINUOUS ACHIEVEMENTS IN THIS DIRECTION, WE HAD IN UBEC MATCHING GRANT DIAMOND BANK ACCOUNT NO. 0023484282 A TOTAL OF N1,782,568,032.24 AS AT DATE OF LEAVING OFFICE ON MARCH 17, 2014 TO MEET THE REMAINING MONTHS (APRIL TO DECEMBER) OF OUR 2014 EDUCATIONAL OBLIGATIONS.

ADDITIONALLY, WE SET ASIDE, TO MEET UP OUR EDUCATIONAL OBLIGATIONS FOR THE YEAR 2015 (JANUARY TO DECEMBER), IN UBEC MATCHING GRANT DIAMOND BANK ACCOUNT NO. 0031151473 A TOTAL OF N2,101,864,766.68.

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGs) ACCOUNT:

6. On the issue of set-aside fund of N4 billion for MDGs projects, especially secondary school education and hospitals like schools and hospitals (especially those of missionaries); as at March 17, 2014, when I left office, WE HAD A SET-ASIDE FUND IN PERMANENT SECRETARY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT, FIDELITY BANK NO. 5030047097, THE AMOUNT – N3,048,355,196.79. This was mainly to cover the N10 million capital vote to each of the 250 secondary schools and the balance to meet up our obligations to the missionary hospitals.

Further, to assist the Local Government Areas to meet up with delivery of their programmes for the year 2014, WE SET ASIDE IN OUR MDGS CGS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT FIDELITY BANK ACCOUNT NOS. 5030042724, 5030042731, 5030042748, 5030042755, 5030042762, 5030042717 THE AMOUNT – N199,024,262.09 EACH, TOTALING N1,194,145,572.54 AS AT MARCH 17, 2014.

Summing up, total amount of money set aside in the MDGs account as at March 17, 2014 amounted to N3,048,355,196.79 plus N1,194,145,572.54 = N4,242,500,769.33.

75 BILLION HANDED OVER:

7. On the issue of N75 billion left in cash and investments, let me reiterate that this is absolutely correct, properly documented and can be scrutinised by anybody that wishes to do so.

However, the CLO’s question is on the 156 million dollars in denominated bonds, which is today valued at about $200 million dollars (over N70 billion), said to have been left or invested. On this, I wish to state categorically that the amount of 156 million dollars being future savings for and on behalf of Anambra State was made as follows:

a. WITH FIDELITY BANK PLC - $56 MILLION

b. WITH DIAMOND BANK PLC - $50 MILLION

c. WITH ACCESS BANK PLC - $50 MILLION

And I want to state at this point that those funds, being long-term investments backed by law, if they are still available in the banks, and I earnestly wish they are, presently should be worth about $200 MILLION as stated in the CLO enquiry.

[Reasoning for foreign currency savings as stated in original affidavit – China model, World Bank $120m loan for STEM and erosion, projection to $1bn by 2030, SME investment plan]

SECURITY VOTES:

8-9. I was shocked and very disturbed by the amount of money I was allegedly supposed to have claimed as Security Votes for myself and my dear wife... Upon assuming office, I scrapped the office of the First Lady...

From the calculation based on the CLO allegation, I was supposed to have taken... N115 billion... LET ME CATEGORICALLY STATE THAT IN ALL THE EIGHT YEARS... THE ENTIRE SECURITY VOTES EXPENDITURE IS UNDER N25 BILLION, WHICH IS ABOUT N260 MILLION PER MONTH. ADDITIONALLY, THIS EXPENDITURE INCLUDES... OVER 500 VEHICLES FOR SECURITY AGENCIES... REBUILDING OF THE POLICE HEADQUARTERS... CONSTRUCTIONS AT THE ARMY BARRACKS... PAYING ONE MILLION NAIRA EACH TO OVER 500 FIRST CLASS GRADUATES...

VEGETABLE EXPORT:

10. On this issue, I can’t remember any time during my eight years in office that I ever mentioned any issue regarding exports. So, I cannot make comments on this.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS:

11. [Lists Intafact Breweries – SABMiller $600m, Innoson $200m, Orange Drugs, Golden Oil, Krisoral, UAC Feeds – all over $100m each, plus 20km of roads in Onitsha Industrial Estate]

FG CONTRACT REFUNDS:

12. [Bridge Head Onitsha to Upper Iweka, Upper Iweka to Zik’s Roundabout to Nkpor to Umunya, Amansea to Amawbia – permission obtained before execution for refund]

ISSUE OF GODFATHERISM / AIDES:

13. [Denies interfering with Commissioners, denies recommending 30% of aides; lists 5 names suggested for continuity – SSG Oseloka Obaze, Prof Stella Okunna, Mrs Vivian Nwandu, Calistus Ilozumba, Azuka Enemuo]

7 BILLION CAMPAIGN FUND:

14-16. I categorically state that never at any time during our campaign for candidate Dr. Willie Obiano... did I spend a kobo on his behalf... If people are saying I’m demanding N7bn... IF MY DESIRE WAS FOR N7 BILLION, I WOULD HAVE TAKEN SUCH WHILE STILL LEAVING OVER N70 BILLION BEHIND.

UMUERI AIRPORT PROJECT:

8. My only involvement in this Airport Project was in acquiring the land from Umueri and paying compensation while working with Orient Petroleum. But when we re-assessed it and found it a bad investment that could not subsequently recover the investment for over 1000 years even without interest, we decided to withdraw interest in the project, especially after the Ministry of Aviation declined our permission for the project. I am sure that Aviation Ministry’s stance remains so till date. So, I have no further comments since I was not truly involved.

19. Having answered the questions posed by the Organisation, may I use this opportunity to thank the CLO, South East Chapter, for their questions and urge them not to limit the exercise to just myself and my successor but to also extend same to other Governors of the Region and their counterparts in other regions of the country as Governors of Nigeria and future ones, since what is required today is to improve the leadership quality of our country.

20. Hereto delivered and marked as Exhibit 1 is page 26 of ThisDay Newspaper publication of Tuesday, 19th September, 2017.

I, the said MR. PETER OBI, CON, do solemnly make this oath conscientiously believing the contents to be true and correct to the best of my knowledge and in accordance with the Oaths Act.

Sworn to at the Supreme Court Registry, Abuja... this 26th day of September, 2017