The former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, has advised his successor, Chief Willie Obiano, to focus on telling the people of Anambra State what he has done for them in almost four years, rather than using the non-existent demand for N7 billion as an excuse to hide his gross incompetence. He was reacting to the statement credited to Obiano yesterday to the effect that Obi demanded N7bn from him.

Responding through his Special Adviser, Mr. Valentine Obienyem, the former Governor said that now is campaign time and that rather than tell the people of the state what he has done for them, Obiano is busy sponsoring people on different media to say he demanded N7bn from him, which was entirely false. Obienyem said in a statement that “now that he has even on his own false world accepted that he did not give the N7bn to anybody, he should go ahead and tell Anambra people what he used their money to do, bearing in mind that major projects in the state such as roads, Awka and Nnewi malls as well as Onitsha and Agulu Hotels, among others, remain abandoned.”

The statement said: “We know the Governor has many questions to answer and cannot run away from them through blackmail. For instance, on the issue of the N75bn Obi left for him, he tried to deny it by saying he met ‘near cash’, we went on and published the banks and account numbers where the money were and the bank certified statement of accounts, but they tactically kept quiet. To refresh our minds, Obi left N2,139,951,400 in First Bank (Acc no. 2018779464) for Oko erosion; N4,909,576,925.98 in SURE-P Diamond account (0026290200); 1,782,568,032 in UBEC 1 Diamond account (0023484282); N2,101,864,766 UBEC 2 Diamond Account (0031151473); over N4bn in many MDG accounts, one of which was the N3,048,355,196 in Fidelity Bank (5030047097); over N35bn cash (set aside funds added) in all the banks.

“Obi also left $156 million in Fidelity Bank ($56m); Diamond Bank ($50m); and Access Bank ($50m).

“If left as Anambra’s Future Growth Funds as conceived by Obi, the money with interest and accruals would have been about N200bn, but Gov. Obiano has sold all of them. In fact, it was one of the disagreements about the sale that led Mr. Oseloka Obaze to resign. Obiano should be busy telling us the status of these moneys rather than his current blackmail.”

The statement further said: “Now is also the time for Obiano to justify before Anambra people why he takes N1.2bn as security votes, which is biggest in Nigeria relative to income.” The statement said that what was curious was that within his first six months in office, he vired all the money in MDG account, with which schools and hospitals get monetary and development support to his security vote.

It also said that now was the time for Obiano to clear so many lies his administration has been dishing out to the people of the State, with the phantom $5m ugu export as an example. “As a seasonal vegetable, at least ugu would be exported once every year, but now, going to two years, we do not hear about it again. He recently told us that Anambra got the order to export 10 million tubers of yam, maybe he did not even realise that over 80% of yam consumed in Anambra State come from Benue and Taraba States. He also said that Anambra is now producing over 200 metric tons of rice, when even Stines company source rice from Ebonyi State,” the statement said.

Concluding, the stamen said there were legion reasons why he does not merit a second term, some of which, the statement said, included the signing of over 100 MoUs that are not functional, the claim that he attracted N7.5bn investment to Anambra State, the concentration of 90% of his few development projects in his town, saying that rather than develop Awka, he only built three falling and cracking flyovers and evacuated 50% of the power meant for the capital to his Aguleri town, which now enjoys 24 hours power supply as well as the relocation of the on-going stadium project in Awka to his Aguleri town.

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