The Presidency and the Anambra State Government have mounted fresh pressure on the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, over a dispute surrounding loans, unpaid obligations and funds allegedly left behind by his administration when he left office as governor in 2014.
The development followed a statement by the Anambra State Government detailing what it described as outstanding financial liabilities linked to Obi’s administration, prompting the Presidency to challenge the former governor to honour his pledge to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race if the allegations were established.
Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said on Wednesday that Obi had previously claimed he left Anambra with a clean financial record and had offered to quit the presidential race if evidence emerged to the contrary.
Onanuga, in a post on X, said the state government had now presented figures relating to alleged outstanding obligations involving workers of the defunct Water Corporation, teachers, pensions and gratuities, as well as loans incurred during Obi’s tenure.
“Peter Obi claimed he left Anambra with a clean slate of debt and even threatened to quit the presidential race if his claims were proven otherwise,” Onanuga wrote.
He added that the Anambra Government had “confronted him with facts and figures” and asked whether the former governor would now fulfil his pledge to stop campaigning for the presidency.
The Presidency’s position came after Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, released details of eight external loans which the state government said remained outstanding.
According to Mefor, the loans were originally valued at $123.77 million, while $92.35 million remained outstanding as of June 30, 2026. The state government put the naira equivalent at about N127.37 billion.
The loans, according to the government, were linked to projects covering malaria control, erosion and watershed management, healthcare, education, community development, agricultural value-chain development and other sectors.
Mefor said the current administration had continued to service the loans, stressing that borrowing itself was not necessarily wrong if the funds were used for viable projects and human-capital development.
The commissioner also disputed Obi’s claim that he left office without outstanding salary, pension or gratuity obligations. He said the Soludo administration had cleared about N22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears owed to retired state and local government workers and teachers.
The state government further alleged that salary arrears owed to workers of the defunct Anambra State Water Corporation persisted after Obi left office and had subsequently resulted in litigation.
According to Mefor, the Soludo administration negotiated an out-of-court settlement with the affected workers and had already paid two of the three agreed instalments.
Another major point of disagreement concerns Obi’s claim that he left more than N2.13 billion in a First Bank account as an ecological fund for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.
Obi had said the money was deliberately left untouched because it was earmarked for the project and that government was a continuum. He challenged anyone who could prove that his account of the state’s finances was incorrect.
“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” Obi had said.
However, Mefor said the account identified by Obi was not an ecological fund account but an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account.
The commissioner further claimed that a certified statement of the account obtained by the state government showed no inflow or balance corresponding to the alleged N2.13 billion from the time the account was opened in 2011.
The state government also disputed Obi’s claim that his administration left more than N75 billion in savings for subsequent administrations, describing the figure as unsubstantiated.
Obi, however, has rejected the allegations, insisting that his administration cleared more than N35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears before handing over power.
He also maintained that his administration did not leave outstanding salaries, pensions or gratuities, and that contractors were not owed for duly executed and certified projects.
In a further response to the Anambra Government, Obi’s camp released his handover document, which it said contained the financial position of the state at the end of his tenure.
The Interim National Coordinator of the Obedient Movement, Yinusa Tanko, made the document public on Wednesday. According to the document, Anambra had a net positive financial balance of more than N86 billion at the time of handover.
The document was released as part of Obi’s response to the state government’s claims that his administration left behind loans and other financial obligations.
The dispute has therefore developed into a clash of competing accounts of Anambra’s finances at the end of Obi’s tenure.
While the Anambra Government maintains that records from the Debt Management Office and other documents show outstanding loans and legacy liabilities associated with previous administrations, Obi insists that his handover records support his claim that he left the state in a financially sound position.
The controversy comes as Obi campaigns for the 2027 presidential election, with the Presidency now asking him to follow through on his earlier pledge to withdraw from the race if the allegations against his administration are established.
The post Debt Row: Presidency, Anambra Govt Hit Hard On Obi appeared first on OsunDefender.
