Anambra government insists Peter Obi left debts, releases records

The Anambra State Government has released details of what it described as public debt and other financial liabilities inherited from the administration of former governor and 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi.

The government said Obi left office with outstanding external loans as well as unpaid salaries, pensions and gratuities, disputing his claim that his administration left the state without such obligations.

The Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Law Mefor, made the claims in a statement titled, “Gov Peter Obi and Record of Public Debt in Anambra: Facts Beyond Propaganda and Lies.”

The statement was issued in response to comments by Obi disputing claims concerning debts and an ecological fund allegedly left by his administration. Obi has maintained that his administration cleared more than N35bn in historical gratuities and arrears and left the state without outstanding salary, pension or gratuity obligations.

External loans remain under discussion

According to Mefor, eight external borrowings contracted during Obi’s administration remained outstanding after he left office on March 17, 2014.

The commissioner said the outstanding balance of the loans stood at N127.4bn as of June 30, 2026, when converted at the official exchange rate.

He said the loans were obtained for projects covering areas including malaria control, erosion management, education, healthcare, community development and agricultural value-chain development.

The Anambra Government said the current administration has continued servicing the loans and argued that borrowing for projects capable of delivering public benefits should not automatically be regarded as negative.

The government had previously said the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo had not borrowed from any commercial bank since taking office but had continued servicing loans inherited from previous administrations, including those of Obi and Willie Obiano.

Dispute over ecological fund

The government also challenged Obi’s account of an alleged N2.13bn ecological fund which he said was left in a First Bank account for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion project.

Mefor said the state government obtained a certified printout of the account identified by Obi and argued that it was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account rather than an ecological fund account.

According to the commissioner, the account had not contained the N2.13bn claimed by Obi from the time it was opened in 2011 to the present.

Obi had maintained that the money was released shortly before the end of his tenure and that he deliberately left it untouched for his successor because it was earmarked for the erosion project.

Government disputes pension, salary claims

The state government also alleged that Obi left outstanding liabilities involving retired teachers and workers of the Water Corporation.

Mefor said the Obi administration had verified 16 months of salary arrears for primary school teachers but paid five months, while arrears involving Water Corporation workers allegedly remained unresolved until the Soludo administration.

The commissioner said the present administration had also cleared about N22bn in inherited gratuity arrears, although he acknowledged that some legacy liabilities dated back to both the Obi administration and earlier governments.

The government further disputed Obi’s claim that his administration left more than N75bn in savings, asking for documentary records to support the figure.

Obi, in rejecting the government’s allegations, had challenged anyone to establish that his account of the state’s finances was incorrect, saying he would stop campaigning if his claims were disproved.

The latest exchange has intensified the public dispute over the financial position Obi left behind when he handed over power in 2014, with both sides presenting different accounts of the state’s debts, liabilities and financial resources.

The controversy comes as Obi campaigns for the 2027 presidential election, making the competing accounts of his record in Anambra a subject of renewed political debate.