The Anambra state government has denied having received the sum of N25 billion from the Debt Management Office, Federal Ministry of Finance as well as Budget and Economic Planning for the rehabilitation of federal roads in the state.
The state informed that this denial is against the backdrop of a current claim by Senator Ifeanyi Uba in a voice note at the Senate chambers has been distributing.
“This claim is, with due respect to the senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, bizarre. We are not aware of anywhere in the world where a bond can be issued secretly.
” Before a bond can be issued for a state government in Nigeria, the State House of Assembly, the Debt Management Office, the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission must be involved. Every bit of the transaction must not only be transparent but also be public knowledge, it said.”
The release which was signed by the Honourable Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, C. Don Adinuba, further stated that the state has not raised any money from the Debt Management Office or the Federal Ministry of Finance under a bond or any financial instrument from any institution or organization.
“We are not aware of anywhere in the world where a bond can be issued secretly. Before a bond can be issued for a state government in Nigeria, the State House of Assembly, the Debt Management Office, the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission must be involved. Every bit of the transaction must not only be transparent but also be public knowledge.
“The Anambra State Government has not raised any money from the Debt Management Office or the Federal Ministry of Finance under a bond or any financial instrument from any institution or organization.
“Our record of prudent financial management and integrity is well acknowledged far and near. Last August 31, for instance, BudgIt, a highly regarded independent civic organization which uses technology to intersect citizen engagement with institutional improvement to facilitate societal change, declared Anambra State and the petroleum –rich Rivers State the two states with the best fiscal responsibility index in Nigeria,” it added.
It stressed that it has been tough to speculate how Ubah came about the phantom N25bn bond which Anambra State purportedly raised surreptitiously from the DMO/Federal Ministry of Finance.
It further, stated that the only thing that any individual can possibly think about is the promissory notes which the state government received in two tranches from the Debt Management Office/Federal Ministry of Finance for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of failed federal roads in the state.
These promissory notes, it further informed, were never secret and that the reimbursement was recommended by the Senate after a public hearing on the debts owed the state for the roads rehabilitation and reconstruction.
“Given the fact that the Federal Ministry of Finance did not have the cash to settle the debts, it opted for promissory notes.
“The amounts and proceeds of the promissory notes are captured clearly in the Report of the Accountant General with Financial Statements for the year ended 31st December, 2019. Even the purposes to which the funds are deployed are stated clearly in the Annual Report. The transactions could not have been more honorable and transparent,” the statement, said