GOVERNOR Willie Obiano yesterday denied the claim by predecessor, Mr. Peter Obi that he left over N75 billion to his successor.
Addressing reporters yesterday, the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Solo Chukwulobelu, described Obi’s claim as a hoax.
He said: “The N75 billion was not there; it was not handed over to anybody. At best it can be half truth”
Chukwulobelu said instead, the state government inherited a total contract sum of N185.1 billion as liability from the Obi administration.
He said the explanation had become pertinent because of the ground the rumour of the N75 billion was gaining, both in the social and traditional media.
Chukwulobelu said it took the state government this long to reply to the claim in other to put the rumour finally to rest, urging the public to discountenance the claim because it does not exist.
He said: “In the real sense, what the Obiano administration inherited from Obi was N9billion cash and N26billion near cash.
“Based on the figures detailed above, which are taken from the handover notes from the previous administration to the current administration, it is evident that the actual and voluntary cash investments made by the previous administration amounts to approximately N35.5billion consisting of mobilization paid on contracts for shopping malls and hotels, cost of two business parks in Onitsha, investments in Eurobonds, amongst a few others.
“Items such as counterpart funds held jointly with domestic development finance institutions, land contributions, FGN refunds differences in bank balances and investments made directly by the federal government on behalf of the three tiers of government totaling approximately N39.5bliilon have been reclassified as “illiquid investments, FGN receivables and involuntary investments.
“However, to provide a true and fair picture of the state’s net position on March 17, 2014, the investments handover notes ought to have captured current liabilities and contingent liabilities also borne by the previous administration as at the time of handover.
“To put this to context, the total portfolio of inherited projects valued at approximately N185 billion was however not captured in the breakdown of the handover notes.”
