Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Dr Law Mefor, has said eight loans taken under the administration of former governor Peter Obi are still being repaid by the state.
Mefor made the statement during an interview on ARISE News on Friday while responding to questions about the loans allegedly taken by the former governor’s administration.
He said the loans were federal government-guaranteed but remained liabilities that the state was required to repay.
“Yes, it was a federal government-guaranteed loan. Eight of them, federal government-guaranteed. But it was not a dash, it was not a grant.”
He said the loans were not compulsory for state governments to take, adding that some states opted out because they did not consider the repayment terms favourable.
“It was not also compulsory for any state government to take such a loan guaranteed by the federal government. In fact, if you check the records, the eight loans, there were state governments that opted out. They didn’t participate because they didn’t find the terms of repayment good enough for them.”
Mefor said Anambra State’s Federal Account Allocation Committee funds had continued to be deducted to service the loans.
“The FAC allocations to Anambra State have been deducted every month to service the separate loans taken by the Peter Obi administration. This point is very important.”
He maintained that the loans remained outstanding, saying the state was still working to repay them.
However, when asked about the amount actually drawn down from the loans during Obi’s tenure, Mefor said he did not have the figures and would need to reconcile them with the Debt Management Office.
“Some of them can look at it from that perspective. But you see, I don’t have the details of how much was drawn down from those loans. No.”
“But to be honest with you, we need to further reconcile these figures with the Debt Management Office.”
He also acknowledged the logic of attributing liability according to the amount drawn down during an administration.
“I understand the logic that if his administration did not draw down the entire amount, we should attribute liability to him only to the extent that was drawn down during his administration. That is logical.”
Mefor, however, maintained that Obi’s administration had committed Anambra State to the loan liability.
“I must say, I must add very quickly that he committed Anambra State to that loan liability to the amount that we mentioned.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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