The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress NDC and former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi has of late hinged the core message of his presidential campaign on his prudence in managing public resources. And the fact that he left Anambra State money intact in savings, according to him is testimony to his transparency, accountability, prudence and honesty, even if the money was not devolved into developing human resources across Anambra State.

Again and again, Peter Obi’s swan song had always been “I left this much or that much amount of money behind for Anambra after my 8-year tenure as governor of the State. But such money sitting idle in the Banks (sometimes as many as 3 different Banks, simultaneously) is a “sleeping money” that does no good to the average Anambrarian. But Peter Obi believes that as far as Anambra people can see their money intact whenever they want to, amounts to transparency and honesty on his own part, and that’s all Anambrarians care for, amount to transparency and honesty on his own part.

But who is gaining from that? It is Obi himself! Because he is inclined to return only the principal amount to the people, while he pockets the humongous interest and diverts it to his own business interests, more so, the Banks to which Obi launders those monies are his own Banks, where he is chairman or at least top Executive Director, positions he attained on the strength of Anambra monies deposited there.

The sitting governor of Anambra State and Obi’s successor, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, just a few days ago told Obi in a statement that governance is about prioritizing citizen’s welfare and not “helping “ them to save their monies in Banks for unsolicited interests at the expense of populist  programs that will do them eternal good”

The statement further accused Obi of deliberately concealing his erstwhile administration’s debts in the handover notes he left for his successor, Governor Willie Obianor in 2014. The sitting governor, Professor Soludo, a former governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank, has repeatedly said that Obi left $123.77million US Dollars debt while leaving office. In addition, Soludo’s government say loans were obtained by Obi’s government for projects, including malaria control, education, healthcare, erosion management, community development as well as value chain development.

However, Obi, talking from both corners of the mouth, has denied the allegations, insisting that he left over $150million US Dollars in Anambra’s treasury and investments. In his own words, he said “As at the time I left office, the dollar components of my savings invested in various bonds were over $150 million US Dollars, which according to him gives Anambra State guaranteed $10 million dollars yearly” Obi stated. He submitted further that if he actually left a  $123.77 million dollar debt, then the yields from the $150 million dollars would have paid off the debt by now, leaving the principal intact.

In fact, Obi challenged the sitting Anambra State Government to prove that his administration left behind unpaid debts, salaries, pensions or contractor liabilities. Responding, Governor Soludo’s government released documents showing that Obi’s government also left N363 million in salary arrears owed to workers among other outstanding debts.

In a follow up, Anambra State commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, in a statement, accused Obi of placing primacy on savings over people’s welfare and concealing debts while he was leaving office in 2014.

Commissioner Law Mefor’s statement reads in part as follows –

How much money would Peter Obi ascribe to lives of the millions of people he claims are “pulled out of poverty?” He continued “Please, Your Excellency Peter Obi, governance and development are different from trading where everything is primarily about profit and loss account without much consideration for human life”

Indeed, if government savings and interest income constitute an indicator of government performance, perhaps it should have been one of the MDGs or SDGs and governments would start competing as to who saves the most rather than who improves the security and welfare of the people the most”

Anambra government disclosed that there were widespread development gaps during Obi’s administration. Mefor listed poor performance, weak public health and education systems, lack of pipe-borne water, over 900 active gully erosion sites among the shortcomings of Obi’s government. He said investment in human capital and infrastructure could yield greater social and economic returns than the financial interest generated through keeping money in Banks.

In conclusion, on 26^th September, 2026, Anambra State Government said “It is really funny to see former governor Peter Obi gloat that ‘no other governor in Nigeria saved as he did’ Yes, no governor in his right senses, and faced with such humongous challenges as Anambra faced at the time will be sadistic enough to keep the peoples’ money away from them, in the Banks, while they, including pensioners are dying of poverty, starvation and insecurity”

In a desperate move to quell the raging storm, Obi, in a letter, frantically appealed to the Obi of Onitsha to intervene in the quagmire, apparently to make Soludo to mellow down so that the imbroglio will not negatively affect Obi’s electoral fortunes , not only in Anambra but across the southeast and throughout Nigeria by extension .

Now, Peter Obi makes me remember the story of “The Parable of the Talents” in the Bible in Matthew 25 verses 14-28. In that text, Obi is like that servant that received one talent but failed or refused to trade with it but rather put it into dormant state by burying it in the earth, safe and intact till his master returned from his journey. And when his master returned, he told his master that the money received from him is intact and saved, so he returned the one talent to his master, because, as he put it, his master is a tough man who may scold him if he touched the money.

Of course his master rebuked and vehemently scolded him for his lack of sense. He expressed regret that even if the servant could not trade with the talent, he could have invested in the Bank to earn interest.

Now listen to me, the great difference between Obi and this foolish servant is that Obi is even more foolish because he had multiple opportunities to invest Anambra money into long lasting infrastructure, like schools, Nursing schools, Technical Colleges, Vocational Institutes, Universities, hospitals, Health Centers, roads, peoples’ welfare and salaries, which are unquantifiable investments that will be appreciating with time.

The only liquid investment Obi said he made with Anambra money is the HERO Beer factory of which he said his own direct family has the lion share interest, inadvertently making it Obi Family Business, rather than Anambra State property.

Again, Peter Obi can be likened to the proverbial meat sharer that share a piece of meat with his teeth. He cut the lion share into his mouth and submits the tiny piece to his co-diner on the dining table.

And yet again, Obi is like the fish roaster living inside a cave. He comes out regularly to show the same roasted and grilled fish to his many waiting customers to give them the erroneous impression that he has many on the fire for sale. Meanwhile, his sales boy goes round collecting money from unwary customers, only to bolt away through the back door with his boy afterwards, carting away the peoples’ money, leaving them waiting for nothing. Perhaps, if Obi had thought that he may be coming back to the people to ask for presidential votes 20 years after, he might have used the peoples’ money to better the lives of the people rather than the hypocritical savings he foolishly embarked upon, for 8 years.

And yet again, Obi is like one magician I used to know while I was a boy. He used to operate at Yaba Bus stop in the 60s. His name was Rondo-rondo.  Anytime he was billed to perform, news spread round the locality that Rondo was coming to that locality. He worked with the police of those days who gave him protection from public assault from aggrieved victims of his notorious and nefarious escapades.

He was a great crowd-puller, including of course, his co-criminal allies. Now, Rondo’s slogan was “the more you look the less you see” He used to have a specially constructed wooden drawer with two compartments which he would display in the midst of the watching crowd. He would have cleverly stored one side with whatever he wanted to share or distribute that day and ecstatically show the empty side to curious onlookers.
Then he would start chanting “the more you look the less you see!” And truly, the more anyone looked, the less he actually saw. So, Rondo will start invoking the spirits to go and bring all the goodies from the four corners of the country to enter the box which he used to cover with a white cloth.

After all the incantations and the enchantments, Rondo will ask his victims who by now have been hypnotized to start asking for whatever they wanted. Of course, he would have collected money from every one of them. He will then proceed to open the drawer, giving the largesse to those that paid him, who actually are his co-criminals.

Having done this, he will invite payments for a fresh repetition of this feat. It is then, he will con the people and abscond with their monies in a get-away car with police escorts. Obi’s style is “investing” monies in the Banks, leaving his people to suffer neglect while the loan generates interests for him (in Banks where he has lion’s share interests) and later on pointing to the principal deposit after he had removed interest and saying to the people that he has not touched their money.

Of course it is safe in the Bank. But for what and whose benefit? Money not spent on the welfare of the people are monies left to rot eventually. This is the bane of Peter Obi and the Anambra people.

Sola Ogunbanjo is a veteran Nigerian journalist, publisher of OtaNEWS community online newspaper. He is also a cleric. He can be reached on 08033595082. He writes from Ota.