Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo of Anambra State had revealed that he inherited a debt burden of N109 billion, and cash of about N300 million to N400 million from his predecessor, former Governor Willie Obiano. The governor, however, said that the indebtedness will not discourage his administration from developing Anambra State, saying he was aware of the situation before applying to be governor.
Prof. Soludo, former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), who said that records at his disposal showed that Anambra has a debt profile of about N109 billion and between N300 million to N400 million cash deposit, declared: “but we are undaunted, as I said in my inaugural speech. We’ll get water out of the stone, with the people working with us, mobilising with us, we will be able to get water out of the stone. Anambra has all the potential, but is also equally matched with the challenges.”
Soludo had stated: “Everybody knows that the state finances are not quite robust, to put it mildly. Debt is probably in the range of a hundred and something billion. Then cash a few hundred million. That’s what I saw. That’s the base.
“But we are still going to have reconciliations and have all the accounts from January to the date that we took over. And I think it’s best practice actually. We intend to have a very transparent public finance management system where we will publish everything.
“Everybody will know what is there and what is not there, what penny comes in what and what it is used for, and that is the aspiration. That’s part of what we promised in our manifesto. Very transparent public finance management.
“If I remember correctly, the cash in various banks is about N300 million or N400 and then the audited accountants as at December would be in debt of about N109 billion. That’s what I saw.
“But we will take it from there. For me, that’s the baseline. When we do the other contingent liabilities, contractor debts and the other issues. It’s not what happened, but it’s where we draw the line and then move on, but that’s the baseline.”
Governor Soludo had disclosed that he has a blueprint of the policy thrust he intends to implement, assuring that with the various documents at his disposal, he fully understands where the state is headed in the coming years.
The governor, saying that although the resources were paltry and “almost zero”, promised to govern creatively and collaborate with the federal government as well as development partners to maximize the limited resources available.
According to Soludo, “And given the available resources that we have, we’re going to explore all kinds of creative means of revenues beyond the usual, so to speak, to be able to collect revenues to do these things.”
The governor also emphasized that he is already having discussions with all stakeholders in the state, including the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), promising that the security of the state will improve and that the forced weekly stay-at-home will be a thing of the past soon.
Prof. Soludo also said he will hold talks with those that will try to stop the job of “liberating” the Anambra people “in the streets.”
According to the governor, “We’re prepared to meet them in the streets and liberate the common man in the streets. “This government is about the common man. Law and order are going to be the very first essence; it is at the foundation of everything, of every society. We must restore law and order.”