The Anambra State government has fired back at former governor and presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, over his claims that his administration did not leave behind outstanding debts and other financial liabilities when he handed over power in March 2014.
The state government, in a statement issued on Wednesday by the Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Law Mefor, said Obi’s claims about the state’s debt profile were “wild” and “verifiably false.”
The government also accused the former governor of leaving behind external loans whose outstanding balance stood at N127.37billion as of June 30, 2026.
The fresh dispute followed Obi’s response to claims by the Anambra Government that his administration left behind debts, including an alleged N2 billion ecological fund-related liability, unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities and other obligations.
Obi had denied the allegations, saying his administration cleared more than N35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears and left office without owing salaries, pensions, gratuities or contractors for duly executed and certified projects.
He also challenged anyone who could prove otherwise to come forward, saying, “If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning.”
But reacting in a statement titled “Gov Peter Obi and Record of Public Debt in Anambra: Facts Beyond Propaganda and Lies,” the state government said it decided to respond because the former governor’s claims concerned public finances and debts it said the current administration had continued to service.
“We have no time to join issues. We will simply state the facts here for the records,” Mefor said.
According to the government, eight external loans obtained during or inherited into Obi’s administration remained outstanding, with a combined balance of $92.35 million, equivalent to N127.37 billion, as of June 30, 2026.
The loans, according to the statement, were tied to projects including malaria control, Fadama development, healthcare, education, community development, erosion control and value-chain development.
The government said the original value of the eight loans was about $123.77 million.
It listed, among others, a $48.33 million additional financing for the Malaria Control Booster Project, of which $37.34 million remained outstanding as of June 30, 2026.
It also listed a $37.89 million Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project loan, with $34.86 million outstanding.
The state government said the outstanding liabilities were being serviced by the current administration.
“Evidently, HE Peter Obi borrowed for malaria, erosion control, education, healthcare, etc. So far, this government pays hundreds of millions of Naira every month to service these debts and we are not complaining,” the statement said.
“It is good for Anambra once we can show the impacts.”
The government, however, said it did not consider borrowing inherently wrong, arguing that governments could legitimately borrow for bankable projects and human-capital development.
It said the issue was whether the borrowing and expenditure could be properly accounted for.
The Soludo administration also disputed Obi’s assertion that he left office without owing salaries, pensions and gratuities.
Mefor claimed that the current administration had inherited and cleared about N22 billion in gratuity arrears owed to retired state and local government employees and teachers.
The government also alleged that salary arrears owed to workers of the defunct Anambra State Water Corporation remained unresolved throughout Obi’s tenure and were only being settled under the current administration.
“This administration has negotiated a settlement and already paid the first two instalments of the agreed three instalment payments,” the statement said.
The government further alleged that some primary school teachers had outstanding salary, pension and gratuity arrears dating back to the administration of former Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju.
According to Mefor, Obi’s administration had verified 16 months of salary arrears and agreed to pay them in tranches but paid only five months.
“This administration has set up a committee headed by the Head of Service to finalise a new verification for us to pay,” he said.
The commissioner directly challenged Obi’s claim that he did not owe anyone when he left office.
“So, Your Excellency, you owed salaries, pensions and gratuities. Many of these people are still alive and can testify,” Mefor said.
“It is not good to speak loudly without facts or with fabricated figures.”
The most contentious aspect of the dispute is Obi’s claim that he left more than N2.13 billion in an account belonging to the state as an ecological fund.
Obi had identified the account as First Bank account number 2018779464 and said the money was released shortly before the end of his tenure to address the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.
He said he deliberately left the money untouched for his successor because it was earmarked for a specific project and because “government is a continuum.”
But the Anambra Government said it had obtained a certified statement of the account and found no evidence that the alleged N2.13 billion was ever deposited into it.
Mefor said the account cited by Obi was not an ecological fund account but an internally generated revenue consolidated account.
“First, the account is an Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) Consolidated Revenue Account, and NOT an ecological fund account,” he said.
“Second, from 2011 when the account was opened until date, there has never been any such amount—whether as inflow or balance—in the account.”
The commissioner challenged the former governor to explain where the money was allegedly kept if it was not in the account he identified.
“Since HE Peter Obi raised the issue and admitted that his government received such an amount and it is evident that no such an amount ever entered into the account that he cited, it behoves on HE Peter Obi to tell us where exactly his government kept the money or is the money missing?” Mefor asked.
The state government also disputed Obi’s claim that his administration left more than N75 billion in savings for subsequent governments.
Mefor described the figure as part of what he called “nebulous creative accounting” and said the previous administration’s claim had already been strongly disputed.
The government did not, however, provide a detailed breakdown of the alleged N75 billion in the statement.
The latest exchange has reopened the long-running debate over the financial records Obi left behind when he handed over to former Governor Willie Obiano in March 2014.
The dispute is unfolding as Obi, who is now the NDC presidential candidate, prepares for the 2027 general elections. Recent reports show that Obi has continued to challenge the Anambra Government to provide evidence of any debts allegedly left by his administration.
The Anambra Government, meanwhile, said its response was aimed at putting its account of the state’s finances on record.
Mefor concluded by saying the state government would not be drawn into further arguments over the disputed figures, but insisted that public records should determine the facts.
