By Elempe Dele

Some arguments feel like noise, in my estimation. I consider the back-and-forth arguments, including the distorted one put forward by Mr. Kalu Aja, the financial education instructor, which he posted on Facebook, as some of those types of arguments.

There is this lingering conversation for the past two days that is very distractive, unnecessary and dramatic. We are in the era of AI and information super highway, an era where getting what you need is no longer a nightmare. Information is becoming so organized that the future of information might no longer be in the head but on the fingertips. Just click and you will find what you need.

Mr. Peter Obi has said severally he was not owing or indebted as at when he left Anambra State as executive governor on March 17, 2014. The present governor, Prof. Soludo, set the record straight that he _was_ owing by giving verifiable data to show he was owing. The Debt Management Office, DMO, which has the responsibility to coordinate and manage the country’s public debt portfolio, verified Prof. Soludo’s claim that as at 2014 when Obi was leaving, there were unpaid debts. Then other records by the state concerning payments of arrears and gratuities also proved there were backlogs left unpaid.

This is my point and why I think these arguments are unnecessary: The Soludo administration did not say Obi embezzled money. It did not say funds were missing. It did not say funds were mismanaged. All it said was that the claim of not owing was not factual. So why exactly should that be debated? Are we now debating with facts with opinions? Can the display of a handover note and the analysis of commentators discount the facts as recorded by the DMO? Can the payments of outstanding loans by this present administration be discounted by television and social media analysts? Can the payment of arrears and gratuities being paid by this present administration be denied? So what exactly is the back-and-forth about? Is governance no longer a continuum?

In my state, when Comrade Oshiomhole took over from Chief Lucky Igbinedion, he met outstanding payments to be made, including gratuities and arrears. He did what he could and left some unpaid. Mr. Obaseki took over and paid some, and after 8 years left. And in these two periods, the debt profile of Edo State rose considerably. Senator Monday Okpebholo only recently released N1bn to continue the payment of gratuity arrears owed to retired local government and primary school workers in the 2012 batch. I am not certain he will be able to pay all that the state is owing before he leaves office. The next governor will have the responsibility to pay and manage what he can. That is how it flows.

So it is never a mortal sin to leave office with backlogs of debts. Oseni Rufai and some other busybodies sarcastically calling for Obi to be arrested by the EFCC are being disingenuous. Setting the records straight and accusation of fraud are two different issues. It makes no logical sense going that route. It is not only diabetic, it is gravely a pathetic protestation that has no link with the issue at hand.

Where there debts unpaid?

Context is all.