Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), has revealed why he saved so much money while governor of Anambra state.
According to Anaedoonline.ng, the LP flag bearer’s political opponents have recently made insinuations about his investment and savings throughout his tenure.
Remember that the Governor of Anambra State, Charles Soludo, stated that all of Obi’s investments while governor were not advantageous to the state.
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The LP flag bearer, speaking through his media adviser, Val Obienyem, explained that the money saved was for the smooth operation of the state and to assist in the payment of workers’ salaries for at least two years.
Obi said: “I saved N48,629,473,469 in local currency, some of which we tied to specific projects like payment of two-year salary of civil servants we employed for him not to be encumbered.
“There was also money set aside for Agulu and Onitsha Hotels, the Awka and Nnewi Malls and some critical roads, like the completion of the dual carriage road over which we had got permission from the federal government to do and to be paid back by the Federal Government. We also left some for him to continue what we were doing aggressively.
”There was also US$156 million (about N27 billion at that time and about N75 billion today when the yields are added). After our study of the Chinese phenomenal achievements as we were coming to the end of MDGs, we learned that the Chinese Regional governments were able to attract a number of investments because of the ability to contribute or partner with the investors in setting up productive facilities within their regions.
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“For example, some of them effectively made equity contributions of 10-20%, which they were able to achieve due to their robust savings.
“So, our calculation was that if the state would be able to save a particular amount (US$18-20 million) as we did in eight years, up until 2030 at the average interest rate of a little of over 6%, we would be able to achieve about a billion dollar in savings and earnings.”
Obi indicated that half of the money would be used to attract investment, and that he made that decision in light of the fact that the average Chinese Small and Medium Scale Enterprise (SME) is set up with roughly two million dollars.
“Our goal was that if we would be able to invest 25 percent in each enterprise, which is $500,000, we would be able to achieve 1000 SMEs facilities scattered all over Anambra State, which would jump-start aggressive economic growth within the state, especially as income from oil is coming to an end,” he added.
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