NIGERIA: Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has reaffirmed his claim that former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, left about $155 million in foreign-currency investments for his successor, saying he personally witnessed the transaction while serving as a bank chief executive.
Otti made the disclosure during an interview with ARISE Television amid the renewed controversy over the financial position of Anambra State when Obi left office in March 2014.
Obi and the Anambra State Government have been exchanging claims over the former governor’s financial record, particularly allegations concerning debts and the funds he said he left behind.
Otti, who was the Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Bank at the time, said his knowledge of the funds was based on his direct involvement in the transaction.
He said Obi had initially intended to keep the money in naira, but he advised him to convert it into dollars because of concerns over the continued depreciation of the local currency.
“They are referring to what I wrote in 2020. I think that was June 8, 2020. I was using it to prove that it’s still possible for people to be prudent in government,” Otti said.
According to him, the funds were subsequently converted to dollars and invested rather than left idle.
“It’s an account of what happened. And I had said that as the CEO of the bank at that time, he was going to leave the money in naira, and when he came to me and I said no, this naira you want to keep, naira will keep losing value.
“So you probably want to convert it to dollars, and it was converted.
“So it’s a statement of fact, and it’s something that happened several years, six years ago. So I haven’t spoken again, and so that’s what they are referring to,” he said.
Otti had previously made a similar claim publicly, saying in 2022 that Obi left at least $155 million for his successor and that he personally helped secure Eurobonds and other investments for the funds.
Obi, in a separate interview with ARISE News, also rejected claims that he left Anambra with about $123.7 million in debt, insisting that he handed over more than $150 million in funds and investments.
He said that even if the state had inherited the alleged $123.7 million liability, the money he left behind could have been used to settle it while preserving the capital.
“Assuming, let me even assume that Anambra State was right, even though it’s false, I did not leave $123 million, let me assume the worst-case scenario: that there was $123.7 million owed as of the time I left. I left over $150 million that was earning about $10 million annually,” Obi said.
The former governor also maintained that he neither borrowed money nor issued bonds on behalf of Anambra during his eight years in office.
He said his administration left no outstanding salaries, gratuities or pensions due for payment, and no unpaid obligations to contractors or suppliers whose work had been certified and verified.
On foreign debt, Obi said Anambra’s external debt stood at about $18 million when he assumed office and rose to approximately $30 million by the time he left in March 2014.
He argued that World Bank and International Fund for Agricultural Development loans cited in the current debate were concessionary facilities obtained by the Federal Government and subsequently lent to states for specific development projects.
Obi also said his handover documents contained details of the cash, investments and foreign-currency holdings left behind, including bank statements which, according to him, supported his claim of more than $150 million.
However, independent fact-checking has noted that there is no publicly available document conclusively establishing the precise amount Obi handed over to his successor. The ICIR’s review, citing Debt Management Office records, also noted that the exact amount had remained a subject of controversy.
