Enugu Air made its first international flight on Wednesday, September 23, 2026.
What happened:
– At exactly 2:48 p.m., the Embraer E170 (76-seater) touched down at Douala International Airport, Cameroon, from Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu. It was received with cheers and a welcome ceremony by Cameroonian authorities, Nigerian community, and aviation officials.
– The flight is now a direct Enugu-Douala corridor. Governor Peter Mbah flagged it off in Enugu, calling it a major step to position Enugu as a hub for investment, business and tourism. He said 14 months after launch, Enugu Air is now one of the fastest-growing airlines in Nigeria.
– First passengers — including traders who normally travel to Lagos first to catch Cameroon flights — said the direct 1-hour flight saves cost and hotel stress. Mrs. Love Chidiogarum and Mr. Ogbonna Jude were rewarded with gifts for joining the inaugural flight.
The airline, which started domestic operations in 2025 connecting Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, Owerri, Asaba, Benin and Warri, says Douala is the first of several planned international routes to connect South-East Nigeria with Central Africa for trade — especially traders from Aba and Onitsha.
The Enugu State Police Command has arrested a building owner after a concrete water reservoir collapsed and killed five members of the same family.
The incident happened at about 5 a.m. on September 18, at Umuike-Aja Village, Nenwenta Community in Awgu Local Government Area.
Police spokesperson, SP Daniel Ndukwe, said the reservoir was attached to an uncompleted building and collapsed onto the adjoining house of a neighbour identified as Raphael Onwu.
Onwu, his wife, his mother and two of his children died in the incident. A 9-year-old boy was rescued alive from the rubble.
According to the police, operatives from Awgu Division, with support from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and community members, rushed to the scene, rescued the child and took him to hospital where he is receiving treatment.
The five deceased family members were recovered and taken to hospital where they were confirmed dead. Their remains have been deposited at the mortuary for preservation and autopsy.
The police identified the arrested building owner as Onyedikachi Nkwo Geoffrey.
The Commissioner of Police, CP Bitrus Giwa, has ordered a thorough investigation into the incident and urged residents and developers to comply with approved construction safety standards.
Geometric Power’s laudation last week of the Abia State government for its efforts to ensure reliable power supply in its utility’s coverage area brings to the fore a critical element in Nigeria’s economic development, public-private partnership (PPP) which has become regrettably a desideratum. While the PPP is officially a development strategy adopted by every government in the country, the reality tells a different story.
With the publication in 2014 of the book entitled Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy, Francis Fukuyama, one of the leading global thinkers, shocked the world by revealing that a Nigerian state governor compelled a soya milk-producing company owned by a German named Robert and his Nigerian wife to shut down for refusing to offer huge bribes to him. Ironically, it was the couple that brought the governor into the picture by reporting the state police commissioner to him for demanding huge bribes from the nascent firm. Also ironical is that it was the couple that brought the police commissioner into the picture by reporting the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to him for demanding unaffordable bribes from a company yet to find its feet. The DPO was brought into the matter because local government officials where the business was located were involved in repeated extortion. The DPO demanded higher bribes than the local government officials, and the state police commissioner demanded a higher sleaze than the DPO, and the state governor demanded a much higher amount than the state police commissioner. The company folded up.
Remarks Fukuyama on page 218 of the book which is a deep and wide-ranging reflection on political theory development: “Although this might seem like a typical story about developing world corruption, it raises troubling questions. The willingness of Robert and his wife to establish a business should have led to a win-win situation for everyone: for the soyabean farmer, for the consumers of their products, for the 200 employees of Robert’s company, and, indeed, for the public officials who would have seen long-term tax revenues rise and who might have been rewarded at the next election for having encouraged the creation of so many jobs. .. Once Robert left the country, there was no one from whom they could extract a bribe, no one further tax. The potential win-win became a lose-lose”.
Nigerians who followed the privatization of the electric power sector in November 2013, for instance, were not surprised at Fukuyama’s disclosure that top Nigerian public officers deliberately destroy businesses, however critical they may be to the economy or society, for purely private gains. We saw how the country’s leadership brazenly refused to uphold the 2004 agreement, amended in 2005, between Geometric Power and the Federal Government carving out nine of the 17 local government areas in Abia State to form the Aba Ring-fenced Area where Geometric Power would generate electricity and distribute to the area. This was despite the fact that the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) published notices in the media advising prospective investors in the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) that the Aba Ring-fence was not part of the territory up for grabs.
The BPE went a step further by putting in the prospectus for intending investors in the EEDC a documenting warning that the nine LGAS in and around Aba had been separated from the EEDC territory. Still, top government officials ignored all this for purely personal gains. When President Goodluck Jonathan visited Geometric Power on Tuesday, March 24, 2015, while on a reelection campaign in Abia State, he expressed great surprise at the humongous expenditure on the Aba Independent Power Project totaling almost $800m. He pledged to resolve the problem because, in his own words, “this is a man-made problem”. The statement turned out, however, to be a mere political promise. He never corrected the gross injustice.
It is, therefore, gratifying to learn of the lauditory letter by the Geometric Power management to the Abia State government for what the company called its authentic partnership with the government. The statement signed by Edise Ekong, the Brand and Communications manager at Aba Power, the embedded distribution subsidiary of the Geometric Power group, revealed that following a series of outages in the Aba Ring-fence in recent weeks arising from disruptions in the gas supply chain Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, his Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Ikechukwu Monday, and the governor’s Special Adviser on Power and Public Utilities, Katchi Etolue, worked round the clock with the Geometric management and staff to resolve the disruptions. The disruptions are now over.
The governor spoke directly and personally to Heirs Energies, which took over the operatorship of Oil Mining Licence (OML) 17 in Owaza in Ukwa West LGA in Abia State from The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) when the President Muhammadu Buhari administration declined to renew the licence for Shell, leading to protracted litigation and drying up of investments in the gas facilities for years. This development worsened the condition of the aged gas pipelines built between 50 and 60 years ago. According to the Aba Power communication head, Gov Otti has also been discussing with the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) and the Independent System Operator (ISO) with a view to enabling Geometric Power to receive supplies from the national grid during emergencies. The discussions were fruitful.
True, Otti isn’t the only governor to assist Geometric Power to succeed for the benefit of the Abia people. Every Abia State governor from Senator Orji Uzor Kalu helped enthusiastically. But that of Otti is special. As Geometric Power chairman Bart Nnaji once noted, it would seem that both his firm and Otti are joined at the hip. Otti was an executive director with First Bank when the proposal for financing the Aba Independent Power Project was made to the bank, and, by a twist of fate, he headed an internal committee that looked into the proposal. When he moved to Diamond Bank as the Managing Director, Otti came to head the financial institution that had from inception been promoting the new privately owned power firm. Years later, he was leading Abia when the Aba Power Project was commissioned on February 26, 2024, by Vice President Kashim Shettima. The power project is a socioeconomic game changer in the state, resulting in historic investment flows into Aba famous for indigenous manufacturing.
The Abia State government is showing the light on how the public and the private sectors can work collaboratively. This is significant. As Aliko Dangote, Africa’s most successful entrepreneur, has stated publicly, some Nigerian government officials work gleefully in cahoots with economic sharks for the killing of tremendous investments like the $20bn Dangote Refinery in Lagos just for their private benefit. Shortly after the accusation, Farouk Ahmed was removed last December 17 as the chief executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
Nigerian government leaders need to borrow a leaf from the Abia State government and even from Chinese civil servants who, as Edward Tse, has reported in the influential book, The China Strategy: Harnessing the Power of the World’s fastest-growing Economy, work effectively, efficiently and enthusiastically to attract huge investments in their places. No matter what many may say against President Donald Trump, no one doubts his eagerness to attract investments to the United States. The Abia State government is on the right trajectory.
Adinuba was the Commissioner for Information & Public Enlightenment, Anambra State, from 2018 to 2022.
I have remained silent over the past few days because I have been grieving the loss of my very dear elder brother and friend, Chief Okey Ezeibe. However, the time has come for me to address some of the matters that have occupied public discussion in recent days.
I respectfully urge everyone to concentrate on the existential challenges confronting Nigeria and the hardships endured by its citizens, rather than on the needless distractions that have become widespread in our politics.
I wish to assure the public that I have no disagreement with my dear elder brother, Governor Soludo, or with any governor in Nigeria. I am not seeking the office of governor in any state, and I will not seek that position again, even if the Constitution is amended.
Accordingly, I appeal to governors to support whichever presidential candidate they choose while also permitting and assisting other presidential candidates and contenders for other offices to campaign freely and without interruption in their states. Ultimately, voters should be allowed to determine whom they wish to serve them.
Regarding the multilateral funding inaccurately described as “debt owed by Peter Obi” in Anambra State, I wish to state unequivocally:
As Governor of Anambra State, I did not approach any financial institution to borrow funds or issue a bond on behalf of the state. Indeed, at his farewell ceremony, the then Director-General of the DMO, Abraham Nwankwo, appointed me chairman and declared that, during his 10 years in office, I was the only state governor who had not approached him for a loan facility.
When I left office, the Anambra State Government owed no unpaid salaries, gratuities, or pensions. Neither did it owe any contractor or supplier who had completed work that the government had verified and certified.
Regarding development financing from the World Bank, these are concessionary development-support funds secured by the Federal Government for states selected by it to address specific needs. Repayment is spread over 25 to 30 years.
The Anambra State Government must therefore differentiate among three separate figures: the total amount approved for the multiyear development program; the amount Anambra State actually drew during my tenure; and the funding balance outstanding when I handed over on 17 March 2014.
The government has combined these distinct categories, added them together, and described the resulting US$123.77 million as “loans left by Peter Obi.” That is an incorrect application of public-sector accounting.
The eight facilities identified were primarily World Bank and IFAD development programs negotiated by the Federal Government, with participating states receiving access to the funds through subsidiary arrangements. They were not conventional commercial loans that I personally secured during my tenure.
This does not suggest that Anambra had no repayment responsibilities; rather, each facility must be examined in light of its approval, effectiveness, drawdown, and repayment record.
The clearest contradiction appears in the government’s own figures. It states that the original facilities amounted to approximately US$123.77 million and that US$92.35 million remained outstanding in June 2026. However, the DMO’s published records showed Anambra’s total external debt at approximately US$18 million when I began my tenure in March 2006, about US$30 million in March 2014, when I left office, and approximately US$45.15 million as of 31 December 2014, nine months after my departure.
The Anambra State Government must therefore clarify how a state whose recorded external debt was about US$30 million in March 2014 and US$45.15 million in December 2014 could supposedly have inherited US$123.77 million from Peter Obi, who left office in March of that same year.
On the day I left office, I left more than US$150 million as the dollar component of my investment in Anambra State as governor. I hereby provide documents that can be verified with the various banks. Had it remained untouched, this investment was expected to provide Anambra State with approximately US$10 million in annual income.
Even if their assertion were accurate—which it is not—that Anambra owed US$123 million, the government could have used the US$10 million generated annually from my savings to reduce the debt. It has now been 13 years since I left office, which would amount to US$130 million. The debt should have been fully settled by now.
Had they retained the funds I left in the bank, including the compound interest on the principal and the additional income, the total would be approximately US$335 million today. If they had chosen to repay the US$92.35 million funding, the entire amount would have been covered, leaving approximately US$242 million to be reinvested. That sum would have generated about US$20 million annually for Anambra State.
Let me reiterate that, when I left office, I left Anambra State in a strong financial position—the strongest of any state in Nigeria—and I stand by that position.
Through this clarification, I wish to state categorically that I will neither engage nor trade words with anyone regarding my tenure in Anambra State. My focus will now be on issues affecting the suffering Nigerian masses, which is the reason for my presidential ambition.
ABUJA, Nigeria — September 24, 2026: A growing political and constitutional controversy has emerged in Nigeria following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s prolonged stay outside the country while Vice-President Kashim Shettima is also abroad on official engagements.
The controversy centres on a fundamental question: who is formally exercising the constitutional functions of the President while both the President and Vice-President are outside Nigeria?
President Tinubu left Nigeria on August 30 for what the Presidency described as a three-week working vacation. He initially travelled to London before proceeding to Paris, France. On September 21, the Presidency announced that he had extended his stay by a few days and was expected to return to Nigeria at the weekend.
Vice-President Shettima, meanwhile, travelled to New York on September 20 to represent Nigeria at the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
Their simultaneous absence has triggered renewed debate over Section 145 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, which sets out the procedure to be followed when a President proceeds on vacation or is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of the office.
What Section 145 Says
Section 145(1) provides that when the President is proceeding on vacation or is otherwise unable to perform the functions of his office, he is to transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Under the provision, the Vice-President performs the functions of the President as Acting President until the President transmits a declaration indicating his availability to resume those functions.
Section 145(2) also provides a mechanism for situations in which the President does not transmit the required declaration within 21 days. In such circumstances, the National Assembly may, by a simple-majority resolution of both chambers, mandate the Vice-President to perform the functions of President as Acting President until the President communicates his availability.
It is this 21-day provision that has become central to the current controversy.
Opposition Demands Clarification
The African Democratic Congress has questioned whether President Tinubu transmitted the written declaration required under Section 145.
The party has demanded that Nigerians be told whether such a document was sent to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
Former Vice-President and ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has also questioned who is constitutionally exercising presidential authority, arguing that the public should be given clarity on whether the required constitutional procedure was followed.
Some members of the House of Representatives operating under the Save Democracy Group have gone further, calling on the National Assembly to reconvene and determine whether action under Section 145(2) is required.
The lawmakers say that if the required declaration was transmitted, the Senate President and Speaker should publicly confirm that fact. If it was not, they argue that the National Assembly should consider the procedure provided by Section 145(2).
Presidency Says Tinubu Remains in Charge
The Presidency has rejected the suggestion that Nigeria is without effective presidential leadership.
According to the government’s position, President Tinubu has remained in contact with officials in Nigeria and continues to direct government affairs while abroad.
Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has also argued that the President’s constitutional powers are not geographically restricted and that Tinubu can continue governing Nigeria while outside the country.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has similarly dismissed suggestions of a leadership vacuum.
Speaking in Akwa Ibom, Akpabio said Tinubu remained President and was still running the affairs of the country from abroad. He also rejected the suggestion that he himself had become Acting President.
Akpabio argued that modern communications make it possible for the President to issue instructions and oversee government business from another country.
Why Shettima’s Absence Has Intensified the Controversy
Ordinarily, the Vice-President would be the constitutional figure at the centre of any temporary transfer of presidential functions.
However, Shettima is currently in New York representing Nigeria at the United Nations General Assembly.
That has made the situation more politically sensitive because the two highest-ranking elected officials in the executive branch are simultaneously outside Nigeria.
The Senate President is also reported to be abroad, further fuelling questions about the country’s constitutional chain of authority.
The issue has therefore moved beyond questions about whether a president can work remotely. It has become a debate over whether the formal constitutional procedure for presidential absence has been followed.
Legal Experts Raise Concerns
Human-rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong has argued that Section 145 requires presidential authority to be formally addressed when the President proceeds on vacation or is otherwise unable to discharge his functions.
Effiong said the simultaneous absence of Tinubu and Shettima raised constitutional concerns and called on the National Assembly to intervene.
Former National Human Rights Commission chairman Chidi Odinkalu has also criticised the prolonged absence, arguing that the country should not be governed indefinitely from abroad.
These are the views of the individual legal commentators and should not be treated as a judicial determination that the Constitution has been violated.
The Unresolved Question
At the centre of the dispute is therefore a relatively specific factual question:
Did President Tinubu transmit the written declaration contemplated by Section 145 of the Constitution to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives?
As of September 24, public reports have not established that the document has been publicly released.
The Presidency maintains that Tinubu remains in charge and continues to direct government affairs. Critics, opposition politicians and some lawmakers argue that communication with officials from abroad does not by itself answer whether the constitutional procedure for presidential absence has been satisfied.
The National Assembly’s response could therefore become significant in determining whether the controversy remains a political dispute or develops into a formal constitutional issue.
For now, President Tinubu remains the substantive President of Nigeria, while Vice-President Shettima is representing the country at the United Nations General Assembly. Tinubu is expected back in Nigeria at the weekend, according to the Presidency.
Until the question surrounding Section 145 is publicly clarified, however, the debate over the formal exercise of presidential authority is likely to continue.
The body of Success Ezenwafor, the UNIZIK Primary School pupil who was swept away by floodwaters in Awka on Tuesday, has sadly been recovered.
“The body of the missing child, Success Ezenwafor has been recovered. The other children are in stable condition and receiving medical treatment at the hospital. I am at Amaku Teaching Hospital at the moment,” Prince Chinedu Okafor, Mayor of Awka South LGA, confirmed.
We commiserate deeply with the Ezenwafor family over this heartbreaking loss. I spoke with a member of the family, who said they are understandably distraught.
According to him, Success’ father vividly remembers his final moments with his son before he left for school yesterday. Success kissed his father on both cheeks, said goodbye and boarded the shuttle bus for school. Tragically, he never returned home.
Two other children from the family who were also involved in the incident were fortunately rescued.
The family member described Success as a brave boy. According to him, Success broke one of the vehicle’s windows, creating an escape route through which others were able to get out. Sadly, he could not make it to safety himself.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Ezenwafor family at this extremely difficult time. May God grant them the strength and fortitude to bear this painful loss, and may the soul of young Success rest in peace.
ENUGU — The Enugu State Police Command has arrested a 30-year-old man, Okpara Chibuike Emmanuel, over the alleged murder of his girlfriend, identified as Chinyere.
According to the police, Emmanuel was arrested on September 21, 2026, after he was reportedly apprehended by an angry mob following the discovery of the woman’s body in his apartment.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the woman was allegedly killed on September 19 during an argument between the couple. Police said the suspect allegedly struck her on the head with a pestle, causing her death.
The suspect allegedly wrapped the woman’s body in nylon and concealed it inside the toilet of his apartment. The decomposing body was reportedly discovered after neighbours noticed an offensive odour and forced their way into the apartment.
Police operatives attached to the Awkunanaw Division subsequently rescued the suspect from the mob and took him into custody.
During preliminary interrogation, police said Emmanuel confessed to the killing and claimed that the argument stemmed from accusations between the couple over who had infected the other with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
The deceased’s remains have been evacuated to a mortuary, while an autopsy is expected to assist investigators in establishing the circumstances surrounding her death.
The Enugu State Commissioner of Police, CP Mamman Bitrus Giwa, has directed the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident.
The police said efforts are also ongoing to locate and notify the deceased’s relatives, while the suspect is expected to be arraigned in court after the conclusion of investigations.
Police stressed that the investigation remains ongoing, and the allegations against the suspect are subject to determination by the court.
Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, has approved the appointment of 101 new political aides.
The appointments were announced on Monday, September 21, 2026, in a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia. According to the statement, the appointments take immediate effect.
The 101 appointees comprise *7 Special Advisers (SPAs), 6 Senior Special Assistants (SSAs) and 88 Special Assistants (SAs).*
Here is the full list as announced:
*SPECIAL ADVISERS (7)*
1. Chief S.N.C. Nwagu — Special Adviser on Conflict Resolution and Mediation
2. Hon. Dr. Fidelis Odo — Special Adviser on Inter-Governmental Affairs and Co-ordination
3. Augustine Okoli — Special Adviser on Policy Affairs and Analysis
4. Hon. Pedro Nwankwo — Special Adviser on Stakeholders Relations and Community Affairs
5. Chimezie Nkwuo — Special Adviser on Economic Development
6. Chief Vitalis Okonkwo — Special Adviser on Grassroot Coordination
7. Peter Andy Omeje — Special Adviser on Commerce and Business Development
*SENIOR SPECIAL ASSISTANTS (6)*
8. Rachael Okonkwo — SSA on Film and Creative Industry Development
9. Barr. Okey Ude — SSA on Inter-Party and Mobilisation
10. Hon. Chinedu Chukwunwike — SSA on Party Monitoring
11. Barr. Peter Chukwujekwu Ogbe — SSA on Legal and Regulatory Compliance
12. Chukwudi Ozoeluba — SSA on Boundary and Land Dispute Resolution
13. Frank Udemezue — SSA on Small and Medium Enterprise Development
*SPECIAL ASSISTANTS (88)*
The remaining 88 are Special Assistants across various sectors, including:
14. Hon. Alachi Aaron Onu — Forest Protection and Conservation
15. Ugwu Emmanuel Chima — Market Maintenance and Sanitation
16. Dr. Okwoigwe Modestus Ndubuisi — Health Facility Maintenance
17. Hon. Okechukwu Agu — Environmental Protection
18. Ozor Ejike Okpe — Enlightenment and Communication
19. Solomon Gwiyi — Publications and Documentation
20. Cornelius Ugwu — Town Union Co-ordination
21. Hon. Romanus Ugwu — Market Decongestion
22. Hon. Gab Onu — Market Sanitation
23. Prince Lawrence Ugwu — Road Infrastructure Maintenance
24. Ugwunnadi Pius Nwabueze — Grassroot and Rural Integration
25. Timothy Chukwuemeka Nnaji — Community Youth Engagement and Development
26. Nick Nnaji — Town Union Matters
27. Mrs. Eucharia Anunobi — Women Mobilization, Enugu-North Zone
28. Aneke Ogbonna Ajie — Community Engagement
29. Christian Ede — Government House Matters
30. Pastor Emeka Ogbonna — Humanitarian Band and Entertainment
31. Chidi Udo — Inter State Relations
32. Engr. Egbonwonu Jude Chikezie — Infrastructure Monitoring and Maintenance
33. Emma Ogbonna — Civic Education and Voter Awareness
34. Ali Stanley Osita — Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs
35. Hon. Onuora Udeanugwo — Cooperative Development and Empowerment
…and 66 others covering portfolios such as Political and Grassroot Mobilization, Youth Development, Public Enlightenment, Non-Indigene Relations, Urban Beautification, Ecological Management, and Technology and Innovation.
The government said the spread is aimed at strengthening grassroots engagement and policy communication across the 260 wards of the state.
Former Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, has released his official handover document to counter claims by the Anambra State Government that his administration left behind outstanding loans and financial liabilities.
The document, dated March 17, 2014, details the financial position of the state at the time he left office, after handing over to his successor, Willie Obiano.
According to the handover note, the Obi administration left a net positive balance of over ₦86 billion in local and foreign currency investments, including cash and fixed deposits, as well as investments in quoted companies.
The release comes days after a document circulating and attributed to the current administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo listed several World Bank and IFAD-assisted projects as loans allegedly taken by the state during Obi’s tenure from 2006 to 2014.
Obi’s supporters argue that the listed projects – including the Malaria Control Booster Project, FADAMA III, Health Systems Development Project II, SEPIP, Community and Social Development Project, NEWMAP and VCDP – were Federal Government borrowings from international development partners where Anambra was only a participating beneficiary state, and not direct state government loans.
Reacting to the controversy, the Anambra State Government has maintained that irrespective of the borrower structure, the financial obligations and counterpart funding linked to the programmes were tied to the state and remain part of its inherited liabilities.
The debate has continued to generate heated reactions on social media, with both camps trading documents and interpretations of World Bank financing records.
As at press time, the State Government is yet to issue a detailed official response to the handover document released by Obi.
“I have taken some time to research on the loan descriptions as released by the Anambra State Government which they claim PO as Governor signed off and my findings are as follows:
1. The Nigeria Malaria Control Booster Project (MCBP) 2007:
This was financed through a US$180 million IDA credit from the World Bank to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, not a loan independently taken by the Anambra State Government. The World Bank records say the original IDA credit was approved in December 2006 and became effective on May 15, 2007.
Anambra was one of the seven participating states, along with Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano and Rivers.
VERDICT: FG was the borrower not Anambra State Government.
2. Fadama III:
This project was a World Bank/IDA-financed project for Nigeria. The World Bank’s project documentation identifies the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the borrower, not Anambra State.
The original Fadama III project was approved in 2008. The World Bank records the project period as 2008–2013 and the original IDA financing as US$250 million.
Anambra was one of the states participating in the project. World Bank records specifically identify an Anambra State Fadama III Project, financed through IDA Credit No. 45960.
Therefore, describing the Anambra Fadama III programme simply as “a loan taken by Anambra State Government in 2007″ would be misleading. The underlying World Bank borrowing was at the Federal Government level.
VERDICT: FG was the borrower not Anambra State Government
3. Health Systems Development ll (ADD FIN.)
The financial document listing Nigeria’s state-level IDA obligations records “Health Systems Development” Anambra State, with a signing date of August 22, 2003, an amount of XDR 4,831,046, and a 0.75% service charge.
The same document separately lists Health System Development Project II (Additional Financing) for Anambra, so the 2009 reference may relate to the additional financing/HSDP II, rather than the original HSDP.
Anambra-specific records confirm that Health System Development Project II was World Bank-assisted, with activities being implemented in the state.
VERDICT: It was an FG project benefiting Anambra State. The Original document was signed in 2003 and 2009 was just an additional financing of the 2003 signed document.
4. The State Education Program Investment Project (SEPIP):
It started in 2013 and included Anambra State. However, the World Bank documents identify the Federal Government of Nigeria as the borrower, not Anambra State Government. The original financing was a US$150 million IDA credit to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with funds disbursed to Anambra, Bauchi and Ekiti through subsidiary financing agreements.
The World Bank’s financing agreement for the original SEPIP is Credit No. 5220-NG, dated April 16, 2013.
VERDICT: FG was the borrower not Anambra State.
5.The Community and Social Development Project (P090644):
This project became effective in February 2009.
The World Bank’s project completion report identifies the Federal Government of Nigeria as the borrower of the original IDA financing. The original commitment was SDR 121.5 million (US$200 million equivalent).
Anambra was just one of the participating states.
6:The Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP):
This project was approved by the World Bank in May 2012 and became effective in September 2013.
The original financing agreement was between the International Development Association (IDA) and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for US$600 million.
Anambra was one of the participating states and had its own State Project Management Unit (SPMU) implementing the project.
Anambra’s project documents explicitly refer to the funds as part of the Federal Government’s IDA credit. A 2014 procurement notice says the Federal Government had received the credit.
VERDICT: FG was the borrower not Anambra State Government.
7. The Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP):
Records shows VCDP was approved by IFAD in April 2012, not 2013.
The financing agreement was between the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and IFAD, signed in August 2012.
The programme became effective in October 2013.
The original programme covered Anambra, Benue, Ebonyi, Niger, Ogun and Taraba.
The original financing included an IFAD loan of US$74.4 million, an IFAD grant of US$0.5 million, plus counterpart contributions from the Federal Government, participating states, LGAs and beneficiaries.
IFAD’s documentation specifically describes the loan agreement as being between FGN and IFAD.
VERDICT: FG was the borrower not Anambra State Government.
OVERALL VERDICT:
All the project listed by the Soludo led Anambra State claiming that it was financed by loan independently taken by Anambra State Government under Mr. Peter Obi are 100% false and misleading. Verifiable World Bank records shows FG was indeed the borrower while Anambra State under Obi participated and benefited just like some other states.
