Pat Onukwuli don call on Governor Chukwuma Soludo make e allow evidence shape di record as di argument about Peter Obi and loans from im time as Anambra governor kontinue.
Di gist be say Soludo fixation with Peter Obi dey hard to understand. Disagreement na normal. Scrutiny dey important. But when sitting governor keep going back twelve years to question one predecessor, especially when dat predecessor near national election, di exercise begin look less like historical accounting and more like today politics wey dem dey run with yesterday ledger.
Latest controversy na loans wey dem allege say Obi administration leave behind. Anambra officials talk say eight external facilities from im tenure still dey partially outstanding. Obi dispute dat characterisation. But approved facilities, actual drawdowns and outstanding balances no be same thing. DMO figures wey dem cite for di debate put Anambra entire external debt stock around $30.32 million in December 2013.
Di disputed facilities na part of World Bank/IDA development programmes for erosion, malaria, education, healthcare and agriculture. One analysis wey attach to di argument talk say several of dem na federal sovereign facilities wey Anambra participate inside, not ordinary commercial loans wey di state contract on im own. Dat distinction need reconciliation, not convenient compression into di politically explosive phrase ‘Obi’s loans’.
Peter Obi suppose face scrutiny. But maybe na exactly di point: which Nigerian politician of im generation dem don scrutinise so relentlessly and for so long, yet e still stand? Dem don pick apart im investments, savings, schools, roads, pensions, bank accounts, debts, personal lifestyle, academic history and eight years in office. Scrutiny don almost become permanent feature of im politics.
Dat no mean say e canonise Obi or make every claim im make correct. For example, im celebrated N75 billion no suppose just dey lazily described as N75 billion cash. Di historical claim cover cash, investments, foreign-currency holdings and other balances. Authenticated bank records suppose also resolve di disputed N2.13 billion ecological fund. Transparency must cut both ways.
Wetin harder to explain na Soludo persistence. Shortly after e become governor in 2022, e publish di book History Beckons and I Will Not Be Silent, where e declare say Obi ‘can’t and won’t win’ presidency and dismiss di movement around am as ‘fleeting frenzy’. Four years later, Obi still dey nationally consequential, while Soludo dey dissect Obi record again as another presidential campaign gather momentum.
Maybe something about Obi dey irritate Soludo. No way to know another man heart, and allegation of jealousy na speculative. But politics allow questions about observable patterns. Why governor wey get im own substantial record to establish go dey devote recurring attention to predecessor wey no dey contest Anambra governorship and no dey run against am?
Di contrast sharp as 2027 approach. Soludo no dey presidential ballot. APGA don talk say e no go field presidential candidate, and Soludo don publicly back President Bola Tinubu re-election; im party, APGA, align with dat position. For di other side, Obi dey campaign for presidency. So Soludo interventions no fit divorce from electoral context.
Greek mythology give us Sisyphus, wey dem condemn to dey push same boulder uphill forever, only to watch am roll down again. Peter Obi dey increasingly resemble Soludo political boulder. In 2022, argument centre on investments and electability. Today na loans and liabilities. Di subjects change; di protagonist no change. Yet every attempt to diminish Obi just invite another examination of di records.
Irony dey here. Soludo na economist of considerable distinction. E understand better than most say stock different from flow, approval different from disbursement, gross liabilities different from net financial position, and inherited obligations different from newly created liabilities. These distinctions suppose illuminate dis controversy. Instead, political rhetoric dey threaten to flatten dem into simple proposition say Peter Obi borrow money and leave Soludo to pay bill.
Make documents decide. Loan-by-loan reconciliation wey show borrower, approval, drawdown, repayments and balances, together with relevant audited accounts and authenticated bank statements, suppose make public. Obi don release im handover document in response to di allegations. If Soludo government get evidence to disprove am, Nigerians deserve to see dat evidence in full instead of encounter history through competing press statements.
No person, including Peter Obi, perfect. No serious person expect am to be. Im more consequential political asset fit be say after years of hostile scrutiny, contested elections, forensic attacks on im governorship, and relentless examination of im claims, e still dey willing to subject im record to public debate. In Nigerian politics, where opacity often be armour, dat continued exposure itself noteworthy.
So Soludo suppose govern Anambra and allow evidence, not insinuation, to shape historical record. Obi suppose keep answering legitimate questions. Nigerians fit judge di records themselves. Dr. Onukwuli na legal scholar and public affairs analyst.
