…Declares Obi unfit for leadership, urge him to stop campaigning.
From Cyril Mbah, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC) has attacked the record of Mr. Peter Obi as Governor of Anambra State, saying his acclaimed fiscal prudence has emerged as a well-packaged lie concocted to hoodwink the public.
Spokesman of the APC-PCC, Dr. Dele Alake, said in a statement on Monday that in the past four years, Obi and his supporters have packaged his tenure as one defined by exceptional prudence, including the claim that he left Anambra without debt.
But the facade, according to the APC Campaign Council, has now been torn to shreds after disclosures by the Anambra State Government, which responded to Obi’s challenge to verify his record.
The Council quoted the Anambra State Government as revealing that Obi spent about USD 4.05 billion, or N5.4 trillion, over his eight years in office and contracted USD 123.77 million in external loans.
It said the state also revealed that as at when Obi left office on March 17, 2014, there were eight different external borrowings for malaria, erosion control, education and healthcare, which subsequent administrations, including Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s government continued to service.
The APC Campaign Council said borrowing is not injudicious if used for development, but for a man who prides himself on being austere and claims he left the state with a clean bill of health, the revelations confirmed that Obi is unfit for leadership at the highest levels.
It further alleged that despite the borrowings, Obi has nothing to show for his stewardship and failed to pay workers’ salaries in some ministries, including Water Corporation staff who protested.
The Council cited a memo dated April 25, 2006, from Obi’s Chief of Staff, Chuks Ileogbunam, pleading with the governor to pay Water Corporation workers’ a backlog of N15 million monthly salary to avoid protests at the Governor’s office.
According to the statement, Obi had promised during his campaign that he would resign as governor if workers were not paid as at when due, and similarly promised to quit the 2027 presidential race if it was proven he left debts for Anambra State.
The APC Campaign advised Obi to purge himself of his lies and seek forgiveness of Anambra people instead of parroting inanities, and questioned his recent solidarity visit to someone facing EFCC trial.
It concluded that if Obi has any honour, he must resign from the 2027 presidential race forthwith, in keeping with his promise to end his campaign, if liabilities were proven.
