Former Anambra Gov Peter Obi got in a fight with his successor Willie Obiano for mismanaging the billions he salted away for the state while he was governor. The EFCC appears ready to make the fight more logical as Obiano winds down his government in March.
According to reports, the EFCC has been receiving petitions against the governor for the way he blew into the N11.3bn he got in Paris Club refund tranche 1 and the N6bn he got in tranche 2.
While the governor may point to projects, including an airport and others, going on across the state, many of the citizens believes they are all smokescreens.
“Take the Umueri international airport, which was being built at N16 billion. The state government initially budgeted N6billion for the project in its 2020 budget. In the 2022 budget, it allocated an additional N10bn for the same project which was located in his hometown,” a source told the Punch.
“Investigators believe the project was being used to launder and siphon money from the state coffers. Apart from this, the governor is expected to explain how he utilised the Paris Club funds, the security vote and other allocations when he meets with our investigators because the money he spent doesn’t seem to be commensurate with the projects on the ground.”
His commissioners and associates have bee invited at soe points by the EFCC
Obiano, though out of the country now, has since been placed on the commission’s watchlist, following intelligence he might skip out of the state immediately after handing over to his successor Prof. Charles Soludo in March.
According his predecessor, the state had over N50bn in savings and cash, besides $156 million in Fidelity Bank, $50m in Diamond Bank and another $50m in Access Bank when he handed over to Obiano about eight years ago.
Currently, Anambra is up to its eyeball in debt—about $112 million.