PREMIUM TIMES analysed DMO’s records, Mr Obi’s handover letter, his claims as well as the submissions of successive administrations in Anambra State to present our findings.
Records by the Debt Management Office (DMO) show that Anambra State’s external debt stock increased substantially during Peter Obi’s tenure as governor, although the figures are far lower than the $123.77 million in external loan facilities the current state government says were contracted during his administration.
By December 2013, the last DMO external debt report before Mr Obi left office on 17 March 2014, the state’s external debt stock had risen to $30.32 million. That is an increase of about 80 per cent over the period.
The figures are relevant to the ongoing dispute between Mr Obi, the 2027 presidential candidateof the Nigeria Democratic Congress, and the Anambra State Government headed by Charles Soludo over the financial liabilities inherited by successive administrations.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Obi has repeatedly maintained that he left office without outstanding debts, including salaries, pensions, gratuities and liabilities to contractors whose work had been completed and certified.
The Anambra State Government, however, says Mr Obi’s administration left eight external loan facilities which subsequent governments have continued to service.
According to historical DMO debt-stock data analysed by PREMIUM TIMES, Anambra’s external debt was $16,869,393 in December 2006.
The figure fell to $15,192,742 in December 2007 before rising to $18,892,185 in December 2008. It stood at $17,313,839 in December 2009.
From 2010, the DMO began publishing the external debt position at six-month intervals.
The state recorded $17,903,645 in June 2010 and $21,304,916 by December of that year.
The debt stock rose further to $23,722,253 in June 2011 and $24,446,469 by December 2011.
It increased to $25,370,842 in June 2012 and $26,708,648 in December.
By June 2013, Anambra’s external debt had risen to $27,312,541, before reaching $30,323,574 at the end of December 2013.
The December 2013 figure ranked Anambra 31st among the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in external debt, making it the sixth-lowest debtor in the country at the time on external debt.
The next DMO report for June 2014, published after Mr Obi left office, put Anambra’s external debt at $41,459,335.
The increase between the December 2013 figure and the June 2014 figure occurred after Mr Obi’s administration had ended and may not be attributed solely to his administration.
The DMO’s December 2013 figure is independently reflected in the agency’s published debt-stock records.
However, there is no available DMO record as of March 2014 when Mr Obi left office as governor of the South-eastern state.
This makes it impossible to determine the exact amount of Anambra’s external debt as of 17 March 2014, the last day of Mr Obi’s administration when he handed over to Willie Obiano.
The DMO began publishing the domestic debt stock of states in the form now being cited from December 2011.
Anambra’s domestic debt stood at N6.4 billion in December 2011 and rose to N14.3 billion in December 2012.
But the DMO’s revised 2013 figure put the state’s domestic debt at N3.026 billion as of December that year.
The 2013 figure placed Anambra 33rd among the 36 states and the FCT, meaning only Katsina, Kebbi, Yobe and Jigawa had lower domestic debt stocks.
Thus, while Anambra’s external debt stock increased during the period, its reported domestic debt stock was substantially lower by the end of 2013 than it had been a year earlier.
Meanwhile, Mr Obi, during his interview on Arise News’ Prime Time on Thursday night, corroborated the DMO’s figures.
The politician’s figures differed slightly, particularly regarding the external debt he inherited, although his figures covered periods different from those used by the DMO in its records.
“So at the time I assumed the office of the state (as governor), our foreign debts recorded was about $18 million.
“At the time I left office in March 2014, our foreign debt position was about $30 million,” he said.
On the foreign debt left behind at the end of his tenure, Mr Obi’s use of the phrase “about $30 million” shows he agrees that it is within that region.
The DMO’s records did not show the exact external debts of Anambra State as of March 2014 when Mr Obi left office as governor.
