A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kenneth Okonkwo, has changed his position on the financial record of former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, saying he was “misled” when he previously defended the former governor against claims of inherited debts and unpaid obligations.
Okonkwo, who served as Obi’s spokesman during the 2023 presidential election campaign, said recent information released by the Anambra State Government had made it difficult for him to continue repeating some of the claims he made in Obi’s defence.
He spoke on Sunday during a political programme on Television Continental (TVC).
Okonkwo, who is currently the spokesman for the presidential campaign council of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the ADC presidential candidate for the 2027 election, said he was willing to change his position whenever new facts emerged.
He said: “You know me, I’m a very passionate person in whatever I believe in. Let me tell you because I was misled.
“There was a time I told Nigerians that Peter Obi was not owing anything, did not leave any debt, he was not owing any salary. No gratuity. No pension. And I said, go and verify.
“I’m not a man that stands on my own misunderstanding. When I see the facts, I agree.”
Okonkwo said the Anambra State Government had claimed that the Obi administration obtained eight loans and that workers of the state-owned water corporation were left with unpaid salaries and arrears.
He said the new claims had made it impossible for him to maintain the position he held during the 2023 election campaign.
“The fact is Anambra State Government said he borrowed eight loans. The fact is that Anambra State said that at the water corporation, he was owing workers there, all the salaries, all the arrears. I cannot say the same thing that I said about Peter Obi in 2023,” he said.
The comments came amid an ongoing disagreement between Obi and the Anambra State Government over the state’s debt profile and financial obligations allegedly inherited from previous administrations.
The controversy intensified after the state Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, said Anambra was still servicing loans obtained by previous administrations, including those of Obi and former Governor Willie Obiano.
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Obi rejected the claim and maintained that he left office without outstanding debts.
The former governor also insisted that his administration did not owe salaries, pensions or contractors when he handed over power in March 2014. He further claimed that he left N2.1 billion in an ecological fund for the state.
However, the Anambra State Government disputed the former governor’s position, alleging that Obi left $123.77 million in debt when he left office.
The state government also said it had no evidence of the ecological fund referenced by Obi.
It subsequently released documents concerning N363.38 million in salary arrears which it said were inherited from the Obi administration.
Okonkwo also revisited his previous defence of Obi’s family over claims concerning an expensive wristwatch allegedly worn by one of the former governor’s sons.
According to him, he had previously challenged the allegation because he believed no member of Obi’s family would wear such an expensive item while Nigerians were experiencing economic hardship.
“There was a time they figured out that Tinubu’s son was wearing a watch worth up to N135 million,” he said.
“I ran out on television and I said nobody from Peter Obi’s family can ever wear such a thing when people are dying in poverty. I stuck my reputation on it. Can I still say that today?”
Explaining how his role would change ahead of the 2027 presidential election, Okonkwo said he would approach Obi differently from the way he did during the previous election cycle.
“That’s why I said in 2023, I campaigned for them as the examination in chief. In 2027, it’s going to be a cross-examination,” he said.
Obi served as governor of Anambra State from March 2006 to March 2014, although his first tenure was interrupted by an impeachment in November 2006.
He later returned to office after a court overturned the impeachment and subsequently handed over to Willie Obiano on March 17, 2014.
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