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Obasanjo Highlights Rising Debt Despite Leaving $70 Billion in Nigeria’s Reserves

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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo
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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo points out Nigeria’s increasing debt levels, despite leaving $70 billion in reserves at the end of his administration. Discover his insights on the country’s current financial challenges.

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed concern over the size of the country’s debt, years after he stepped down from office in 2007.

Obasanjo recounted that he departed from the leadership of the nation with approximately $70 billion in total, comprising a reserve fund of $45 billion and an additional $25 billion held in a designated “excess crude” account.

In an exclusive interview with Kayode Akintemi of News Central Television, the former President spoke on Thursday.

Obasanjo expressed concern about the country’s poor leadership quality, noting that his administration inherited a debt of nearly $36 billion and managed to reduce it to approximately $3.5 to $3.6 billion by the time he left office in 2007.

He said, “When I arrived in 1999, the reserve was at $3.7 billion. As I’ve mentioned before, we were spending $3.5 billion on debt servicing—that’s what our financial situation looked like.”

When we left eight years later, after securing debt relief, the initial debt burden of nearly $36 billion had been significantly reduced. By the time I departed, this amount was decreased to approximately $3.5 to $3.6 billion from around or over $36 billion.

Simultaneously, the reserve increased from $3.7 billion when I first arrived to $45 billion. During this period, we also accumulated what was referred to as “Excess crude”—this represents the surplus generated beyond our budgeted projections and actual crude sales figures due to conservative budgeting practices. The value of this excess amounted to approximately $25 billion. When combined with the reserves, it totaled around $70 billion overall.

“The key point is that I departed in 2007. From then until 2024, all those funds have been depleted—every last bit of it. Moreover, every cent earned during this period has also vanished. As a result, we are now more indebted than we were when we assumed office in 1999.”

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Peter Obi Is the Stingiest Human Being, We Worked for Him, He Didn’t Give Us Shishi – Michael Piper ‎

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‎In a video posted by Symfoni, Michael Piper who was a member of Obedience for a Better Nigeria accused Peter Obi of being extremely stingy, claiming that despite the wide support he received from civil society groups and media personalities during his campaign, Obi offered no financial support.
‎In his statement, he said;

‎”Peter Obi no dey give Shishi. He’s a multi-billionaire and one of the stingiest human beings you will ever meet, Even when we were campaigning for Peter Obi, even those who were bloggers, popular bloggers, he didn’t even give them money for data.”

‎Piper made it clear that he personally received nothing from Obi throughout the campaign period.

‎“I campaigned for Peter Obi for 8 months. I never received a penny from him. If Peter Obi gave me one naira, please, they should publish it anywhere.”

‎According to Piper, the Labour Party’s success in 2023 was due to the collective effort of civil society actors, not Obi’s personal ideology. He warned that Obi’s presence is now turning the party into a war zone.

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If I had remained as governor of Anambra State, I would have done one single term of four years and leave—Chris Ngige ‎

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Chris Ngige
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‎According to a video posted on YouTube by Symfoni, Chris Ngige, a prominent Nigerian politician and former governor of Anambra state recently reflected on his tenure as governor of Anambra State and revealed his thoughts on serving a single term in office.

‎Ngige, who held the office of governor from 2003 to 2006, expressed that had he remained in power, he would have opted for a single, four-year term.

‎He stated, “If I had remained as governor of Anambra State, I would have done one single term of four years and leave.” Ngige pointed out the limitations of political office, emphasizing that it often leaves little room for personal life and privacy, which he found stifling.

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2027: PDP Governors, Senators Reject Atiku’s Coalition

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Rising from a meeting in the early hours of yesterday, governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and leaders of thought within the party resolved not to abandon the party for any coalition ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Former vice president Atiku Abubakar and the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, had recently hinted that the party was going into a coalition with other opposition leaders to chase the All Progressives Congress (APC) out of power in 2027.

But the party leaders and the governors who met on Wednesday night through Thursday morning in Abuja, believe that rather than build any coalition, the energy and resources should be channeled to building the PDP.

Among those present at the meeting were two former Senate presidents, David Mark and Bukola Saraki, former governors of Kaduna, Jigawa and Sokoto states, Ahmed Makarfi, Sule Lamido and Senator Aminu Tambuwal.

Others were former Minister of Police Affairs, Adamu Maina Waziri and former Defence minister, Lawal Batagarawa, with the governors represented by two of their colleagues – Governors Bala Mohammed of Bauchi and Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa State.

Sources told Daily Sun that at the meeting held under frank atmosphere, the leaders decided to rebuild the PDP.

“And they also briefed the governors on their plan to achieve their aim of building the party and they want the governors to work towards the same aim.

“They resolved that there is no need to abandon the party and be working on any coalition. They instead insisted that rather than work to build any coalition, the efforts to start a coalition should be deployed to build the PDP, using the same resources, energy, time and strategy they want to use for the coalition, for the PDP.

“They noted that all the parties with no exception, including the APC, have their challenges and internal crisis. As such, PDP leaders should work to reconcile the differences and rebuild their structure instead of seeking any new platform,” one of the sources told Daily Sun.

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