Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo on Tuesday revealed his predecessor Willie Obiano kept N300m in the state’s coffers, but left over N100bn in debts as of December 2021.
Prof Soludo told Arise TV in an interview that other financial transactions of the state from January to date were not yet available.
He said, “First, in terms of finances, there is an audited account of Anambra as of December 31, 2021, which is a public document that anyone can access. Between the audited accounts as of the end of the year 2021, everyone knows that the state finances are not quite robust.
“In terms of debt, it is in the range of over N100bn and then cash, which the state has is N300 or N400mn, but we are still going to have all the reconciliations and all the accounts from January to the date when we had the handover.”
The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria stated that although the problems in the state are daunting, they are not insurmountable.
Soludo lamented the lean resources of the state, but promised that efforts would be made to improve the state’s finances.
He maintained that the government would reform the revenue collection system following the ban on the activities of hoodlums, who had been collecting revenue indiscriminately.
“In terms of the debt I inherited, it runs into hundreds of billions of naira. That of cash, we met about N300m only. In fact, let’s not talk about it. Our treasury is funny. But I hope we shall make money henceforth to help us fulfil our promises for infrastructure and development of the state. But in terms of what I met in our coffers, my brother, it’s pathetic. Please, let us not go there. God will help us,” Soludo stated.
Obiano is currently being detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. He is accused of money laundering running into billions of naira.
Soludo also condemned the sit-at-home observed in the south-east on Mondays, pledging it would be resolved.
