INSIGHT

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