According to the statement signed by Dele Alake, Spokesman of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, the APC has accused former Anambra State Governor and NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi of misrepresenting his fiscal record. The statement said Obi and his supporters spent years packaging his tenure as one defined by exceptional fiscal prudence, including the claim that he left Anambra without a debt burden. It said this has now emerged as a well-packaged lie.
The statement alleged that the facade built around Obi has been torn to shreds after disclosures by the Anambra State Government, which responded to Obi’s challenge to verify his record. According to the Anambra State Government, Obi spent about USD 4.05 billion, or N5.4 trillion, over eight years and contracted USD 123.77 million in external loans. As of March 17, 2014, when he left office, eight external borrowings for malaria, erosion control, education, and healthcare remained, and subsequent administrations continued to service the debt.
The statement argued that borrowing is not injudicious if used for development, but for a man who prides himself on austerity and claims he left the state with a clean bill of health, the revelations confirmed that Obi is, in its words, an irredeemable liar, a mediocre governor, and unfit for leadership anywhere.
It further alleged that despite these borrowings, Obi has nothing to show for his stewardship across Anambra’s sectors. It said he failed to pay workers’ salaries in some ministries, and Water Corporation staff protested over unpaid salaries. It cited a memo dated April 25, 2006, in which Chuks Ileogbunam, Obi’s Chief of Staff, pleaded with him to pay Water Corporation workers’ N15 million monthly salary to avoid protests at the Governor’s office.
The statement said that just as Obi promised to quit the presidential race if it was proven that he left a debt burden for Anambra State, the letter revealed he had similarly promised Anambra people during his campaign that he would resign as governor “if there is any case where workers are not paid as and when due.” It said he never meant it and only deceived people into voting for him. When he left office in 2014, he left his successors with heavier arrears to clear.
The APC council advised Obi to purge himself of his lies and seek the forgiveness of the Anambra people instead of parroting inanities. It said what should concern Obi’s followers more is his recent solidarity visit to someone facing an EFCC trial for unexplained wealth and monumental corruption. It concluded that if Peter Obi has any honour, he must resign from the 2027 presidential race forthwith, in keeping with his promise to end his run if it is proven that his administration left behind liabilities in Anambra.