I inherited over N100bn debt in Anambra – Soludo

Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, says the state’s debt at the end of December 2021 was over N100billion.

Speaking on Arise TV Morning Show, the former Central Bank of Nigeria governor said the figure was from the audited accounts of the state which was published at the end of 2021.

He, however, said his team will sit down to calculate what the real position of the state’s finances was and make decisions with the information available.

The governor said the state has between N300m and N400m as cash at hand when he resumed office last week.

“In terms of finances, there is an audited account which is public document. Anybody can access that, the audited account of Anambra State as of December 31, 2021, it is a public document. Anybody can get it, you will see our assets and liabilities. What you now have to do is that between the audited account look at the dates between the audited account and the handover date.

“As for the audited account which is published, everybody knows that the state’s finances are not that robust. The debts are about N109billion and cash from what I saw is a few hundred millions around N300million or N400million. But we are still going to have reconciliation from January up to the date I took over. We intend to have a transparent public finance management.

“For me, that’s baseline, when we do all the other contingent liabilities, contractor debts, we will pull up everything and then see how we generate resources,” Soludo said.

He also spoke about his relationship with former governor Obiano, praising his predecessor for keeping to his side of their agreement.

“Every time and everyday, I must say Governor Willie Obiano is a good man and I will say this over and over again. He is an honourable man. What is rare in Nigeria today is that people don’t keep their word and when he and I met in August, September, October and November 2016, I accepted his proposal for us to work together politically. In 2017, I did everything to keep my own part of it.

“Many people didn’t expect just in the usual Nigerian way of things that he would keep his own part, but he did after five years, and I don’t take it for granted. It is very easy for people to just walk away, but he didn’t, he remained very committed. He loves Anambra, he loves Nigeria and did his best to the best of his ability.

“Thank God this is APGA. We will continue on the strong foundations he laid, and where we think he didn’t quite work well, our job is to make amendments and continue the trajectory. I don’t expect him to give us any problem, neither do I expect to give any.

“Typically, what often leads to the kind of friction that I see in many cases is when people leave office, they have difficulty leaving. They want to leave and still be the one calling the shots and determine who gets what. But he is not that kind of fellow. He has repeatedly assured that and said so publicly, so I don’t see any much lines for friction,” he added.