Peter Obi replies Anambra government over loan allegation

The former governor insists he left office after settling all obligations due, including payments to workers, suppliers and contractors whose claims had been properly processed.

Former Anambra State Governor and presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi, has responded to claims by the state government that it is still servicing loans obtained during his administration.

Obi, who governed Anambra State from 2006 to 2014, rejected the allegation that his administration left outstanding debts for the state government to repay, insisting that he settled all obligations due before handing over power.

The former governor made his position known in a video from the Voice of Ndi Anambra Podcast circulated on Monday while responding to comments concerning deductions from the state’s monthly federal allocation to service loans obtained under previous administrations.

Anambra State Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, had stated during the podcast that the state was still servicing loans obtained during the administrations of Obi and his successor, Willie Obiano.

Obi, however, disputed the claim and maintained that his administration did not leave behind unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities, suppliers or contractors whose claims had been properly processed.

“As at the day I left office, I was not owing any salary, pension, or gratuity that Anambra State Government is supposed to pay,” Obi said.

“I was not owing any supplier or contractor that had executed his job and his documents processed, not one. The day I left office; I paid what was due to be paid. I wasn’t owing any contractors.”

Obi speaks on N2.1bn ecological fund

The former governor also addressed the issue of an ecological fund which he said was in a state government account when he left office.

According to Obi, the Federal Government had released about N2.1 billion approximately three months before the end of his administration for a specific erosion-control project.

He said the money was kept in an ecological fund account with First Bank of Nigeria at a branch located in Nnamdi Azikiwe University.

“The day I left office, I had an account in the First Bank of Nigeria, a branch in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, an ecological fund account with a balance of about N2.1 billion,” he said.

Obi explained that the money was not available for general government expenditure because it had been specifically earmarked for the erosion-control project.

He said some members of his administration had suggested spending the money before his departure, but he rejected the idea, arguing that government was a continuous process and that the incoming administration should be allowed to use the money for its intended purpose.

“My people were saying, ‘let’s expend this money’. But I kept telling them, government is a continuity and I want the person coming after me to succeed,” Obi said.

The former governor challenged anyone disputing his account to verify the records of the account, saying the details of the bank and branch could be checked.

“I say it again, if you go to the account, I’m going to give you the account number. I have given you the bank and the branch. If you see anything contrary to the day I left office, I will stop campaigning,” he said.

Obi speaks on governors backing Tinubu

Obi also addressed the growing political support for President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

The NDC presidential candidate said state governors had the right to support whichever presidential candidate they preferred, specifically noting that Anambra Governor Chukwuma Soludo and other governors were free to make their political choices.

“It’s about over 30 governors today supporting the president. And it is politics and their rights to support whoever they want,” Obi said.

He stressed that he was not asking governors to support his presidential ambition but was only calling for a free, fair and credible election in 2027.

“I’m not urging them to support me. I am only urging them to allow free, fair and credible elections. I’m talking to the people because they have only one vote,” he said.

Obi said the outcome of the election should ultimately be determined by voters rather than governors, recalling that he contested the 2023 presidential election without having councillors or other elected officials in office.

“Today, it is still the same case. The only thing is I am campaigning to be the president of Nigeria,” he said.

“But it is the people of Nigeria that will decide, not the governors, unless they’re going to write the results or rig the election, which is what I’m preaching against.

“Let it be a free, fair and credible election. Whatever the people decide, I will respect it.”