Victor EzejaFORMER Governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi has denied the allegation made against him in Pandora Papers that he owns $500 million and violated Nigerian laws on code of conduct for public officers by not fully declaring his assets during his time as governor and also evading taxes.
Obi made the clarification in an interview with Arise Television News on Monday morning.
Premium Times, a Nigerian online publication had published the Pandora Papers which named Obi, a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, a pastor and some other high profile Nigerians accusing them of being involved in some offshore secret businesses in tax havens.
The paper equally disclosed that some of those businesses were in some cases used as conduit for money laundering.
Obi during the programme, however, stated that he broke no law in all his dealings, insisting that all he did was within the bounds of the law.
He said, “Number one is that I am not guilty, Trust company is a legitimate vehicle used everywhere globally for investment, savings and estate planning purposes. It’s allowed by law everywhere. In my Particular case and that of my family, it was done on very valuable advise of our then bankers,” he said.
On allegation of money laundering, Obi said the company was never used to launder money or buy property anytime, before, during and after his tenure as Governor of Anambra State and even till date.
He said, it was a trust company strictly for savings and family planning used to support their borrowings which was even invested in Nigeria, adding that there are evidence to prove that.
On the issue of owning half a billion dollars, the former PDP Vice Presidential canditial in 2019, declared that he does not own such amount of money, stating that they were just looking for a way to nail him and mention such amount, because according to him, Nigerians doesn’t understand the value of money. He explained that such amount is too big.
“Globally world population is over 7 billion, out of which, only 37.5 million are worth one million dollars, only 3 million people are worth 10 million dollars and only 300 thousand people are worth $25 million (.004%).”
He challenged anyone willing, to go ahead and investigate the company, declaring that if anything above $15 million is found, they should confiscate everything.
On the issue of asset declaration of when he became governor, Obi said he only declared things that belong to him.
“I cannot declare things that don’t belong to me. I cannot evade tax, every investment done globally is legitimate and pays tax. If I earn anything in the UK, I pay their taxes, I cannot pay property tax in Nigeria for property in the UK.
“I have never paid less than N50 million in taxes annually over the years, I did not break the law, everything I did is within the line, notwithstanding, there was never a time anybody said to me, they can’t find anything against me, because I have been going about preaching about saving,” he stated.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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