The newly inaugurated Governor of Anambra state, Professor Chukwuma Soludo has lamented that he met “about N300 to N400 million” in the state’s coffer but inherited debt about of N109 billion from the previous administration.
Soludo disclosed this on Tuesday when he featured a programme ‘’The Morning Show’’ on Arise News Television.
He stressed that the state’s finances were not robust, but that his administration would not be discouraged by the situation.
“Everybody knows that the state finances are not quite robust, to put it mildly. The cash we met in various banks, if I remember correctly, I think N300 or N400 million, and then from the audited account as at (of) December, 2021, the debts (was) about N109 billion,” he noted.
The former CBN governor said his administration would establish a transparent public financial management in the state to track the state’s treasury.
“We intend to have a very transparent public financial management where we are going to be publishing everything. Everybody will know what is there and what is not there, what penny comes in and what it is used for,” he said
In line with his vision for job creation, Soludo reiterated his intention of embracing made-in-Anambra products.
“You will not get to Europe and find any European government using or buying Japanese Toyota for the operations of their police or for their president or officers. That government will come down the next day.
“That’s how you create jobs. Can you imagine 215 million people patronising textiles that were made here? You are going to create tens of thousands of jobs, in fact millions of jobs,” he said.
He said he would encourage the makers of local products in the state to proudly brand their products made-in-Anambra, rather than stamping names of foreign brands on their products to boost patronage.
“That’s a way that Nigeria, not just Anambra, must go. We will eat our food, we will drink our drink, we will wear our clothes, put on our shoes and we will create millions of jobs.
“It is not going to be a temporary thing. It is something I believe in and I am going to live through that,” Soludo said.
