NIGERIA – Former Secretary to the Anambra State Government, Oseloka H. Obaze, has revisited the long-running controversy over the funds and liabilities allegedly handed over by former Governor Peter Obi to his successor, Willie Obiano, in March 2014.
Obaze, who served as SSG during Obi’s administration, said he was personally present when Obi signed the handover letter on March 17, 2014, and when Obiano received and acknowledged his copy of the documents.
According to Obaze, the handover package included certified bank statements, related financial documents and the 2014 Anambra State Handover Report.
A copy of the document shared by Obaze lists the following financial positions:
- Local investments: ₦27 billion
- Foreign currency investment: ₦26.5 billion, stated as US$156 million in the document
- Certified State/MDA balances: ₦28,165,985,574.06
- Federal Government approved refund: ₦10 billion
- Total: ₦91,665,985,574.06
- Estimated liabilities: ₦5 billion
- Stated net balance: ₦86,665,985,574.06
The document is dated March 17, 2014, and is addressed to then Governor-elect Willie Obiano.
Obaze said he subsequently confronted Obiano during the Channels Television Anambra governorship debate on November 12, 2017, after the former governor questioned whether funds had been left by the Obi administration.
According to Obaze, he asked how Obiano, whom he described as a certified accountant and auditor, could have accepted and signed the financial documents during the transition and later express reservations about the funds.
Obaze said Obiano subsequently acknowledged during the debate that specified funds were available, while questioning the rationale for saving money when there was work to be done. The account is also reported by Leadership and Tribune in their coverage of Obaze’s latest statement.
Obaze further referred to an account attributed to former Taraba State Governor Darius Ishaku, saying Ishaku had told members of the Nigerian press corps that Obiano disclosed to him that Obi had left substantial funds which helped his administration undertake the construction of the Anambra Airport at Umueri. This portion is presented by Obaze as a recollection of Ishaku’s account, rather than as independently verified evidence.
He also cited former Diamond Bank chief executive and current Abia State Governor Alex Otti, who publicly said in 2022 that Obi had left substantial funds for his successor. Otti said he was involved in the financial arrangements while he was CEO of Diamond Bank and stated that about US$155 million had been converted and invested in Eurobonds and Tier-2 capital of banks. Channels Television reported Otti’s 2022 statement.
Obaze’s intervention comes amid renewed debate over the financial position inherited by successive Anambra administrations and the competing claims concerning Obi’s savings, investments, debts and liabilities at the end of his tenure.
He ultimately questioned why the financial position documented at the 2014 transition remains a subject of political dispute more than a decade later.
“What then, one may ask, is the beef and grouse of the incumbent Anambra State Government?” Obaze asked.
The figures in the handover document establish what was recorded in the document; they do not, by themselves, independently establish the subsequent status or disposition of each listed asset or investment.
