Pandora Papers: The Authors of The Article Displayed Ignorance, Says Obi

By Uche Mbah

Former governor of Anambra State and Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2019 general elections, Peter Obi, has said he has not violated any law in his  business dealings, whether local or international.

There have been reports credited to an online medium that sought to link him with illegal acts in the conduct of his businesses, based on a faulty reading of leaks from the Pandora papers, which are documents leaked on international business moguls that use off-shore financial bases to launder money to evade tax.

But speaking during an interview on The Morning Show, an Arise TV program Monday, he said the authors displayed ignorance on such matters.

Said Obi: “I did not in any respect, whatsoever, violate any law before, during, and after my stewardship as the governor of Anambra. I think that the authors displayed ignorance on matters of Trust and International Investment Practices.”

According to him, he “was the sole importer of Heinz salad cream”- an example of one company he handled during his hay days.

“I was the sole engineer of South African Breweries. I was also bringing in Ovaltine.

“The company I was with before, I left it for my brother who took over and paid me off. That company became the Next Cash and Carry which you see in Port Harcourt and Abuja.”

He said he was a wine importer. “Everyone knew I was a very big trader,” he said.

On the security situation in Anambra state, he blamed the Federal government.

“People in Government, when they make statements, should always, first of all, evaluate and think about the implications of their statement to the overall wellbeing of the country,” he said, answering questions on the statement credited to Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, that the Government cannot rule out state of emergency in the state.

“People don’t know that the greatest contributors to GDP growth are intangible assets, which is security, law and order, and even behavior and statement of the leaders.

“The statement of leaders can hurt the place. So leaders must always ensure that their words have always gone through scrutiny.

“That statement from the attorney general shouldn’t be. More so, he’s the attorney general of the federation, not of the federal government or APC.

“The Federal Government should not talk about a state of emergency. Failure of security in Anambra state is their failure because they are in charge of security. Unless they are saying, they’re going to declare a state of emergency on the country.”