Why is that most past leaders who handed over to the others always have problem with the people they handed over power to?
Could it be dog eat dog or biting the finger that fed you?
It happened between Orji Uzor Kalu and Theodore Orji of Abia state.
Peter Odili, Rotimi Amaechi, Nyesom Wike.
Rochas Okorocha and APGA leaders.
Now former Anambra State Governor and the present one Willie Obiano.
The battle between Governor Willie Obiano and former Governor Peter looks like what angel Gabriel and Michael will settle.
In a television interview Obiano's aide, Mr. Willie Nwokoye, the principal secretary to Governor Obiano, states government side to the crisis.
Read the excerpts below
Are you saying no money existed anywhere?
You and I will do the check-ups now and see the balance between two documents. The one I am going to discuss is the one in the handover note.
There is another document which is like an afterthought that says: ‘in addition to the documents I handed you over, please remember that this one is an addendum.’ If you read the second paragraph, it is like an afterthought, what I call future in the past.
There is a difference between knowing and not knowing. Yes, there is a N75 billion arithmetic sum that is made up of about 49 or 50 percent of long term investment-investment in hotel that are work in progress, investment in business district, investment on shopping malls (three of them going simultaneously), involuntary investment which is Federal Government deduction from FAAC which is Excess Crude Account that is pertainable to Anambra State, national independent power project.
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These are illiquid, you cannot recover them, they are cash-out. So if I add them with the liquid cash and it gives me N75 billion, I want to ask any elementary student: does this mean that I have N75 billion liquid cash? The answer is no.
I agree, the governor agrees and everybody knows that there are investments in Eurobond which is near-cash and it is N26.5 billion which if the government decides now to go and liquidate it, that is available cash.
As if the government had the premonition that this kind of intelligent discussion would come up, he went on to rebalance it being a seasoned banker, so that yield was fair. The principal itself is there untouched.
So what you met is N9 billion cash and N26.5 billion in other investments?
Yes! N26.5 billion in Eurobond. There is another N350 million in quoted stocks, shares that stock broking firms were asked to buy for the state. This you can convert. But why the confusion?
It is because either someone is not being honest with himself or does not understand the difference between illiquid investment and liquid cash. The near-cash is about $155 million that was invested in Eurobonds and domiciliary accounts.
It is near in the sense that it can just take you 24 hours to go and knock and say: ‘I want to liquidate part of this and use.’ That is not cash available but could be cash tomorrow.
If you put that together, don’t you think the past administration will be correct to mention N75 billion?
It is correct arithmetically, but not correct in liquid cash. There is a huge difference. If Willie Obiano had N75 billion in cash, you won’t recognise Anambra by now.
Is it that Governor Willie Obiano and former Governor Peter Obi are having a frosty relationship? People are wondering why now.
Well, why now is because falsehood had been disregarded by government which had its eyes on the ball. But the falsehood was beginning to be damaging.
This is a trying time for any manager of public fund. There are people that can do certain things for you because they believe you and because of your integrity. You can verify that and the person is saying this is how much I am receiving from FAAC and it is coming down by 52 percent and that is why work is going on.
You can’t be doing that engaging people on partnership and understanding and someone is saying you have a liquid cash of N75 billion. That trips off from the level of integrity with which partners relate to you.
There is also the issue of advance money paid to contractors. Don’t you think this is investment too?
Contractors were engaged at the twilight of the previous administration. You issued that contract worth N185 billion and paid 50 percent of the mobilisation.
They are not investments because I engage you to do a road work for me, the contract pricing is mine for obvious reasons, and then I pay mobilisation and then leave you with a huge obligation that can take my finances. We are not saying that it is bad because it is infrastructure.
But when say you left N75 billion, put that side by side with an obligation that has been written for you future, you are tied in to it. And because of respect, the governor never said anything about it and he has been paying down and this has brought it down to a little above N60 billion.
Don’t you think the two of them could sit and resolve these issues?
I don’t think I have heard the past governor speak.
Are you saying there is no rift between the two of them?
I haven’t seen that, other than the hand of Esau and the voice of Jacob. So I won’t speak on that; in one and half years, someone has shown the capacity to provide development and prosperity, tangible and intangible.
When this is not available to some people, they begin to lay claim that even though he is doing this, I left the money for him to d it or ‘let us begin to harass him with this falsehood so that he fails.
Is Anambra state broke?
Why would Anambra be broke?
Are you seeking to borrow?
Now, commercial loans are at 23 to 25 percent. For every infant banker, let alone seasoned bankers, he knows that this is bad economics. Just like any other state, you have been hearing about funds by the federal government targeted at different sectors of the economy.
You have the entertainment bond, you have the ecological fund, you have the infrastructural fund. And these are available for every state. So the infrastructural fund is there and Anambra has not taken it.
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