Why we are opposing Peter Obi – Soludo

ANAMBRA State Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, has said there is no personal disagreement between Governor Chukwuma Soludo and former governor Peter Obi, describing their differences as a reflection of their respective political interests.

Mefor made the remarks during an interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90MinutesAfrica on Thursday.

According to the commissioner, both Soludo and Obi are active politicians whose decisions are shaped by their political responsibilities and interests.

“There is no rift between Governor Soludo and Peter Obi. They are both in politics and they have their interests to defend,” Mefor said.

Soludo’s relationship with Tinubu

Mefor defended Soludo’s decision to maintain a working relationship with President Bola Tinubu, saying it is consistent with APGA’s traditional approach of cooperating with the Federal Government regardless of party differences.

He pointed to Obi’s tenure as Anambra governor as an example, noting that Obi, who governed the state under the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), also maintained a relationship with the Federal Government led by former President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In January 2015, Jonathan appointed Obi as deputy director of the South wing of his presidential campaign organisation ahead of that year’s election.

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Mefor also cited Willie Obiano, who succeeded Obi as governor, as another example of an APGA administration that maintained ties with the Federal Government despite differences in party affiliation.

“Governor Soludo is just following the same policy. He is working with President Bola Tinubu. So long as that policy remains, nobody should blame the governor for following the policy that was introduced by Peter Obi,” he said.

Government denies targeting Obi

The commissioner also rejected suggestions that the Anambra government’s review of Obi’s financial records was intended to discredit the former governor, diminish his record in office or affect his political ambitions.

Mefor acknowledged that Obi performed well during his tenure but said the current dispute concerns claims about the state’s finances and liabilities at the end of his administration.

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“The intention of the Anambra State Government is not to indict Peter Obi,” he said.

“Peter Obi did well as governor.” He said the government’s objective was to establish clarity about the state’s financial position and verify claims concerning funds and liabilities inherited by subsequent administrations.

Dispute over ecological fund

Mefor specifically challenged Obi’s claim that his administration left N2.13 billion in an ecological fund account with First Bank at the University of Nigeria, Awka (UNIZIK) branch.

The commissioner said the state government requested the relevant bank records but did not find evidence of the claimed amount in the account.

“Peter Obi told us that he left N2.13 billion ecological fund in a First Bank account at the UNIZIK branch. We went to the bank and demanded the account statement. There was no N2.13 billion in that account, either as an inflow or a balance at any time,” he said.

Mefor challenged Obi to release the relevant bank statement publicly if he disagrees with the government’s account.

“We can’t see the money. I think it is fair enough to say that if he thinks that we are lying, he should print it out and publish it,” he added.

Commissioner disputes claim on loans

Mefor also disputed Obi’s assertion that his administration did not leave loan obligations for succeeding governments.

According to the commissioner, the Obi administration obtained 8 loans and drew down on some of them, with repayment obligations subsequently inherited by later administrations.

“Nobody is against a government taking loans. Peter Obi took loans and we are not saying it’s wrong. He took eight loans and he drew down on some of them. He did not repay, so he passed it down to the successive governments,” Mefor said.

He stressed that borrowing itself was not necessarily problematic, particularly when loans were used to finance projects with potential public benefits.

The commissioner identified education, malaria control, agriculture and erosion management among areas for which the Obi administration borrowed funds.

“We agree that these were noble reasons, but he shouldn’t say he didn’t take loans,” he said.

DMO records cited

Mefor further referred to records from the Debt Management Office (DMO), saying they indicated that Anambra had domestic debt running into billions of naira when Obi left office.

He also said Soludo’s decision not to borrow since becoming governor should not be interpreted as opposition to borrowing in principle.

According to Mefor, the Soludo administration could consider borrowing in the future if the funds were tied to clearly defined projects capable of generating sufficient resources to service the resulting obligations.

“Although Governor Soludo has not taken any loan, that does not mean that a loan is bad,” he said.

Mefor maintained that the state government was not arguing that previous administrations were wrong to borrow.

Rather, he said, the central issue was Obi’s claim that his administration left no loan liabilities for subsequent governments.

‘Move targeted at demarketing Obi’

Meanwhile, experts have said that Soludo’s government is only trying to demarket Obi, not just to dispute facts.

A civil society expert, Dr Samuel Akpan, wondered why issues like this often resurface during elections. “If you notice in the lead up to the 2023 election,

“Soludo made it clear that he was against Obi. I don’t know what the issues are but why would a governor be writing a long epistle about a credible presidential candidate from his state? Secondly, why would he wait to dispute a fact as serious as the state’s fiscal state only during elections?”

He alleged most of the top politicians from the South-East region opposing Mr Obi were only eyeing the position of vice-president in 2031 but would struggle to get it.

“They will all find out that the issues are bigger than Obi. If Obi does not become president, who says they will? Since 1999, the South-West region has led the country twice, with a vice president to cap. The South-South has produced one president. Only the South-East has failed to produce the VP or president. Yet, the people that should support this cause are the ones oppositing it. I am from the South-South, but I hate injustice, which is clearly what is happening for selfish reasons.”

A political analyst, Haruna Boguwa, said there was nothing wrong with asking former leaders to account for their actions in office but picked holes in the timing of Soludo’s actions.

“Soludo is a better position to explain things that happened during the Obi administration. However, he who goes to equity must go with clean hands. You can’t publicly be supporting President Bola Tinubu and be bringing out negative facts against an opposition candidate. It is just political and an unserious way of telling the truth.”