The government of Anambra State has said it is still repaying loans borrowed by previous administrations including Peter Obi and Willie Obiano, former governors of the state.
Mr. Izuchukwu Okafor, commissioner for finance in Anambra, spoke on ‘Voice of Ndi Anambra Podcast’, a video clip of which was posted on the Facebook page of Anambra State New Media on Monday.
Okafor said the state’s monthly federal allocation is still being deducted to service the loans.
“Every month during our FAAC meetings, when you see the schedule of FAAC, you will notice there are substantial, significant deductions from our own FAAC because of loans previously borrowed by previous administrations,” Okafor said.
“These loans were borrowed during the time of Peter Obi and Willie Obiano and other past governors.”
He said the current administration led by Chukwuma Soludo has not borrowed from any commercial bank since it assumed office.
Okafor said the Soludo administration has reduced the state’s debt by more than 83 percent since it assumed office.
The commissioner said the government has also cleared most of the state’s domestic debts, including liabilities arising from unpaid contracts, gratuities and pensions.
“It is on record that this Soludo government has not borrowed a kobo from any commercial bank since the inception of this administration. Our domestic debt as of today is near zero balance,” he said.
Okafor noted that deductions are still made from the state’s federal allocation to service external debts, including loans from the World Bank and other institutions.
He said the state had also recently repaid a loan obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS).
Okafor said the government has been able to create more fiscal space for the state by repaying debts inherited from previous administrations.
“In a nutshell, we have been able to create more fiscal space for Anambra State by paying off the backlog of numerous debts inherited from previous governments, starting from the time of Peter Obi,” he added.
