Declare public Anambra’s financial state before leaving, CLO tells Obiano, as drama nearly mars Soludo’s inauguration

Rights group, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), South East Zone, has asked Chief Willie Obiano to declare the true financial status of Anambra State by making public his handover notes to the incoming Governor, Prof. Chukuma Soludo.

Soludo took over the governance of Anambra State, during a ceremony in Awka early Thursday morning, as the event itself witnessed a mild drama involving wife of outgone Governor, Mrs Ebele Obiano and the widow of late leader of the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the state, Bianca Ojukwu.

The CLO Southeast Zone in a statement released, Wednesday, and signed by its Zonal Chairman, Comrade Aloysius Attah, said Obiano owes Anambra people a duty to make public the true state of the state’s fiscal standing.

CLO noted that during the handover of the reins of governance from Mr Peter Obi to Chief Obiano in 2014, Obi made public the financial standing of the state while it is a fact that Obiano inherited savings in investments and cash from the Obi administration.

The CLO said that in the spirit of accountability and transparency which are two core attributes of good governance, Anambra and the attentive public are desirous to know how far it has been in the last eight years of the Obiano administration.

“An American statesman, John Caldwell Calhoun, 1982-1850, in a public speech made in 1839 said that ‘the very essence of a free government consists in considering public office as public trusts, bestowed for the good of the country, and not for the benefit of an individual or a party’.

“Another American Statesman, Daniel Webster 1782-1852 during a speech in the Senate, 1830 also described Democracy as the “people’s government made for the people, made by the people and answerable to the people.

“In the democratic journey of Anambra State after the military handover to civilians in 1999, Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju quietly slipped into oblivion in May 29th 2003 without a proper handover note to his successor having lost output legitimacy by the many odious actions and inactions which marred his one term administration.

“Dr Chris Ngige who took over from Mbadinuju having entered through a stolen mandate and the numerous battles with his estranged godfathers also ‘nichodemuosly’ left the government after his sack by the courts . There was no formal handover to Mr Peter Obi.

“But Obi after recovering his stolen mandate, served out his first tenure after the tenure interpretation suit and also won his reelection for a second tenure. By the time he was leaving office on March 17, 2014, he set the pace by not only making his handover notes with the accompanying financial status of the state public but also officially handed over to Obiano publicly at Ekwueme square in Awka.

“Eight years down the line, though it has been reported that the incoming Governor, Prof. Soludo has chosen a low key handover ceremony, it is incumbent and expedient on the outgoing governor to tell the public the true state of Anambra’s finances.

“The public want to know the assets and liabilities which the Soludo administration will be inheriting.

“Behind the euphoria of the commissioning of some ‘legacy’ projects, we call on Chief Obiano to make public what Soludo will be inheriting from his administration.

“What is the degree of Anambra’s indebtedness presently and its outstanding financial obligations both internal and external? In the absence of democratically elected local government functionaries, how did the state manage the humongous allocations for the local governments in the last eight years?

“With various abandoned road projects across the three senatorial zones of the state, what is the level of financial commitments and outstanding owed to contractors working in the state?

“Is the state free of any form of Irrevocable Standing Orders (ISO) or deductions from source including debt servicing charges? There are many and many unanswered questions on the Obiano administration begging for answers by the attentive public.

“According to a USAID document on promoting accountability and transparency, the process of governing is most legitimate when it incorporates democratic principles such as transparency, pluralism, citizen involvement in decision-making, representation, and accountability.

“As the Obiano administration finally winds down, we urge him to do the needful in this regard and as the Soludo administration gets on board, credible civil society, the media, and the private sector, have roles and responsibilities to play in this direction in addition to those of the government,” the CLO statement read.

Meanwhile, drama ensued on Thursday morning at the inauguration of Prof Chukwuma Soludo as the Governor of Anambra when the wife of outgoing Gov. Willie Obiano, Ebelechukwu, allegedly got a slap from Mrs Bianca Ojukwu openly at the event.

The incident occurred immediately after Soludo took his oath of office.

The action drew the attention of security agents and some personalities who pulled Mrs Obiano off the hold of Bianca.

Mrs Obiano was later taken away and shortly afterwards, her husband left the venue since the incident happened after the new governor had been sworn in.

Soludo was sworn in by the state Chief Judge, Justice Onochie Anyachebelu, at exactly 9:45 am.

Chief Judge Anyachebelu administered the oath of office on him with his Deputy, Dr  Onyekachi Ibezim, at the Government House, Awka,  the  state capital.

In his inaugural Speech, shortly after inspecting the guard of honour, his first assignment as governor of the state, he said under his administration key sector of economy would be given adequate attention.

He said strategies would be adopted to address current security challenges in the state, even as local government polls would hold.

The Governor added that his cabinet would be constituted within a week to enable governance to full swing immediately.

The event was witnessed by several dignitaries including the outgone Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, Mr Peter Obi, amongst others.