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THE TRUTH ABOUT PETER OBI'S PHANTOM 75 BILLION NAIRA CASH HANDOVER TO GOVERNOR WILLIE OBIANO Governor Willie Obiano has finally broken his silence on the controversial N75bn supposedly le by his predecessor, former governor Peter Obi. Speaking through the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Solomon Osita Chukwulobelu in a press conference in Awka on Saturday, Obiano dissected the various items in Obi's Handover Note, stripping everything to barebones for a be er understanding. What finally came out of the conference is that contrary to the mass hysteria on social media, what Obi actually le behind is N9bn. 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. A er all, it is no mean feat to leave all of N9bn behind by a Nigerian public official. However, basic accoun ng principles demand that once we look at assets, we must almost impulsively, also look at the liabili es. A look at the liabili es side of Obi's Handover 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 N78.9bn, leaving a staggering N106.2bn 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 categoriza on of the N9bn that his administra on invested in the Nigeria Independent Power Project which the federal government unilaterally exacted from the accounts of all states and local governments in the federa on as part of the assets in the Handover Note does not smell very nice. Neither does the revela on that only N1.9bn was invested in Intafact Beverages Limited as against the N3.5bn declared by Obi in his Handover Note. Ques ons might be asked as to why the former governor had to make such a false declara on since all these accounts can be independently verified and established by anyone who wishes to pursue the ma er further. It is also a subject of perplexity that Obiano's predecessor paid Denca Resources Limited the sum of N250m as counterpart fund for the building of 400MW Independent Power Plant in Ogbaru which has since turned into a mirage. Obiano's claim that the management of the company has By James Eze “ A look at the liabili es side of Obi's Handover 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 N78.9bn, leaving a staggering N106.2bn overhang on contractual debts alone “ 8 remained elusive since the incep on of his administra on, dodging invita ons for a conversa on from state officials, deserves a serious look in. But even more curious and depressing to anyone who is familiar with the iron-cast profile of the former governor as a man of unimpeachable integrity should be the realiza on that part of the so-called N75bn liquid assets he supposedly le his successor is the N750m investment in Emenite Limited. Already, ques ons are being asked as to why Obi should present this as part of his cash savings for Anambra State when in actuality, the N750m 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% equity share for the state. How a 54 year-old investment made before the crea on 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 N500m with the Bank of Industry to support SMEs in the state and addi onal N500m with the same bank to support Micro Credit Banks in the state should not have been listed as part of the he y N75bn le behind for Obiano. Neither should Obi have also cited the N480m counterpart fund with the Agric Bank which was meant for support to farmers in the state as well as the N1bn 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 N10bn that the federal government is expected to refund to the state for fixing some federal roads which has now shot up to N27bn is a part of the liquid asset he le behind is also vacuous and misleading. The truth is that no one knows how long it will take the federal government to meet this obliga on 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 reac on from the federal government. How does this begin to
qualify as an asset le by a prudent administrator? Truth be told, what may a ract a en on in Obi's long list of non-investments are the foreign currency components of the Handover Note. Obviously worried about the final verdict of history on his administra on, Obi made fran c efforts in the final months of his tenure and invested the sum of $155m or N26.6bn in Eurobonds and other foreign denominated securi es held with Access Bank, Fidelity Bank and Diamond Bank. But sadly, given the current decline in capital markets, the state would incur a heavy loss of $32m represen ng 14.8 percent and a Naira loss of N100m respec vely were it to a empt to liquidate this investment por olio. So, not even this investment is enough consola on for the hoopla that has trailed Obi's hyperbolic claims. Let it be said that it has become clear that Peter Obi's handover Note is full of dead bodies. While this may not be strange in a country where public office holders are generally known to leave the treasury empty when they exit office, what appears totally strange to many people is why the Obi camp choose to turn this seriously flawed document into a new Angelus; to be recited any me Governor Obiano does something worthy of praise. Stranger s ll is the fact that while it is on record that Chief Willie Obiano has always acknowledged Obi's contribu ons to the emerging Anambra narra ve and even called for a standing ova on for Obi and his team in public func ons, there has always been a bold and crude a empt to demonize Obiano and his wife. The lowest of this despicable campaign by Obi's loyalists was the rumour fuelled on social media last month, claiming that Ebelechukwu, his beau ful wife had died. One would have expected that there would be a degree of method to the madness of these opposi on elements who obviously have gone beyond the brief handed them by their master in this curious campaign against a man who has not offended anyone. It has to be noted too that those whose only complain about Obiano's final decision to break his silence over the conten ous Handover Note is that he should have spoken out earlier actually miss the point en rely. As a seasoned technocrat and level-headed administrator, Obiano is not one to play to the gallery or hanker for cheap populism. In fact, when a group known as Concerned Anambra Professionals began to raise the red flag over the dead bodies that lay half buried in Obi's Handover Note just a few weeks a er Obiano was sworn in, the governor took out pages in na onal newspapers to distance himself from that effort. He did that not because of lack of merit in the agita on of the period but because of the need to be fully convinced that it was expedient to do so and also because of his abiding faith in the merits of the paradigm shi from Agulu to Aguleri and from Obi to Obiano. In fact, he was totally commi ed and remains infinitely commi ed to preserving that historical hand of friendship that sealed the gubernatorial race in November 2013. Even so, it must also be noted that Obiano's eventual Breaking of Silence on the conten ous N75bn is a direct response to the endless campaign by Obi's loyalists to reduce all his achievements to the existence of a phantom N75bn legacy somewhere. Those close to Obiano can easily tes fy that he would have preferred to con nue his reless striving to build Anambra in silence, looking for crea ve ways to rev up Internally Generated Revenue and sustaining the tempo on his agenda to transform the state. However, the relentless cas ga on of his administra on and the virulent a acks on his family by people loyal to his predecessor have 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! L-R: Sir Okey Morka (Commissioner for Finance), Sir Willie Nwokoye (Principal Secretary), Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu (SSG). L-R: Mr Greg Obi (Commissioner for Local Government), Sir Okey Morka (Commissioner for Finance), Sir Willie Nwokoye (Principal Secretary), Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu (SSG) L-R: Sir Okey Morka (Commissioner for Finance), Sir Willie Nwokoye (Principal Secretary), Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu (SSG) 9 L-R: Sir Willie Nwokoye (Principal Secretary), Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu (SSG), Prof. Joe Asike
Page 1 and 2: SPECIAL EDITION, NOV. 2015 INSIGHT
Page 3 and 4: PETER OBI’S HANDOVER DOCUMENT 3
Page 5 and 6: TRUE POSITION OF PETER OBI’S CASH
Page 7: PETER OBI DID NOT LEAVE 75 BILLION
Page 11 and 12: poisonous a acks hurled at Obiano a
Page 13 and 14: HOW VAL OBIENYEM IS LEADING PETER O
Page 15 and 16: EXPRESSIONS What people are saying

INSIGHT

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