By Omeiza Ajayi, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress APC Presidential Campaign Council has described the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) Mr Peter Obi as a mediocre, unfit for leadership anywhere, declaring that disclosures by the Anambra State Government over his eight-year tenure have exposed unpaid workers’ salaries and undisclosed external loans behind his carefully cultivated image of fiscal prudence.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, spokesman of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Alake, said the Anambra State Government’s response to Obi’s own challenge to verify his record had torn apart what he called a well-packaged lie built around the former governor’s persona.
According to Alake, the disclosures showed that Obi spent about $4.05 billion, or N5.4 trillion, during his time in office and contracted $123.77 million in external loans, contradicting Obi’s long-standing claim that he left Anambra State without a debt burden.
“According to the Anambra State Government, the former governor 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,” the statement noted.
It added that the state government also revealed that as of when Obi left office on March 17, 2014, there were eight different external borrowings for malaria, erosion control, education, and healthcare, with subsequent administrations, including that of Governor Chukwuma Soludo, continuing to service the debt.
The campaign council argued that borrowing was not in itself improper if channelled into development, but insisted the revelations exposed a pattern of dishonesty by a man who had built his political brand on austerity. “But for a man who prides himself on being austere and has frequently claimed he left the state with a clean bill of health, the revelations confirmed what has long been held: Obi is an irredeemable liar, a mediocre governor, unfit for leadership anywhere,” the statement said.
Apart from the borrowings, the council said Obi had little to show for his stewardship across sectors in Anambra State, pointing to unpaid salaries that affected workers, including staff of the state Water Corporation who protested over the non-payment of wages.
Citing a memo dated April 25, 2006, from Obi’s then Chief of Staff, Chuks Ileogbunam, the statement said the aide had pleaded with the governor, then barely two months into office, to release the Water Corporation’s N15 million monthly salary to forestall protests at the Governor’s office.
The council quoted the memo directly: “Since it is your excellency’s unchanging desire to achieve a better future for our children and children’s children, please, Sir, bear in mind that officials of the Water Corporation also have children who are looking to your compassionate leadership. The President listens with compassion to your appeals on behalf of the children of Anambra. I am 200 per cent sure that you will hearken to the cries of the children whose parents work for the Water Corporation and end their ordeal.”
The statement noted that Obi had, during his campaign for the governorship, promised Anambra people he would resign “if there is any case where workers are not paid as and when due,” a pledge the council said he never intended to honour.
“Of course, he never meant to. He only deceived people into voting for him. When he left office in 2014, he left his successors with heavier arrears to clear,” the statement said, drawing a parallel with Obi’s more recent pledge to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race should it be proven that he left behind a debt burden in Anambra State.
The council urged Obi to admit to his conduct rather than continue campaigning on a false record.
“We advise Obi to purge himself of his lies and seek the forgiveness of the Anambra people instead of galloping around platforms, parroting inanities,” the statement said, adding that Obi’s recent solidarity visit to a figure facing trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC over unexplained wealth and corruption should equally worry his supporters.
“Indeed, if Peter Obi has any honour, he must resign from the 2027 presidential race forthwith, in keeping with his promise to end his run if it is proven that his administration left behind liabilities in Anambra,” the statement said.
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