The Anambra State Government has fired back at former governor Peter Obi, claiming his administration left behind eight external loans with an outstanding balance now put at N127.4bn.
The government also accused Obi of leaving unpaid salaries, pensions and gratuities, while challenging his claim that he left more than N2.13bn ecological funds untouched in a First Bank account before handing over power in March 2014.
The fresh war of words followed Obi’s denial of claims that he left debts and other financial liabilities for successive administrations.
Obi had insisted that he left Anambra without outstanding salary, pension, gratuity or contractor debts, saying his administration cleared more than N35bn in inherited arrears.
But in a statement titled “Gov Peter Obi and Record of Public Debt in Anambra: Facts Beyond Propaganda and Lies,” Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Law Mefor, said official records told a different story.
According to Mefor, the Debt Management Office records showed that eight external loans contracted during Obi’s tenure remained outstanding.
The loans, he said, were obtained for projects including malaria control, erosion management, education, healthcare, community development and value-chain development.
The government said the loans contracted during the period amounted to about $123.77m, while the outstanding balance as of June 30, 2026, stood at about N127.4bn at the official exchange rate.
Mefor said the present administration had continued to service the obligations inherited from previous administrations.
He, however, stressed that the government was not opposed to borrowing, arguing that loans could be justified when used for productive projects and human-capital development.
‘OBI LEFT WORKERS UNPAID’
The commissioner also rejected Obi’s claim that he cleared all salary, pension and gratuity arrears before leaving office.
Mefor alleged that outstanding payments involving retired teachers and former Water Corporation workers remained unresolved after Obi left office.
He said the present administration had paid about N22bn in inherited gratuity arrears owed to retired state and local government workers and teachers, while also negotiating the settlement of outstanding Water Corporation workers’ salaries.
The government further claimed that arrears involving primary school teachers dated back to the administration of former Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju, adding that the Obi administration had verified 16 months of the arrears but paid only five months.
The claims have not gone unanswered.
Obi had maintained that his administration systematically cleared historical gratuity and salary arrears and left the state without outstanding obligations to workers or contractors for completed and certified projects.
‘WHERE IS THE N2.13BN?’
Another major flashpoint is the alleged N2.13bn ecological fund.
Obi had said the money was released shortly before the end of his tenure to address the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis and was left untouched in a First Bank account at the UNIZIK branch in Awka.
But Mefor disputed the claim, saying the account Obi identified was actually an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account, not an ecological fund account.
The commissioner said the state obtained a certified statement of the account from its opening in 2011 and claimed there was no record of the alleged N2.13bn entering or remaining in it.
Mefor consequently challenged Obi to explain where the money was kept if, as he claimed, it had been received by his administration.
OBI CAMP: ‘WE’LL RESPOND’
Obi’s camp has rejected the allegations and said a detailed response was being prepared by officials who served in his administration.
His media aide, Idris Zekeri Jnr, said the controversy was a governance issue rather than a campaign matter and that former officials were compiling the response.
The camp also criticised the Presidency for joining the dispute after Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, challenged Obi over his earlier statement that he would stop campaigning if evidence emerged that he left debts behind.
The controversy has now widened from a dispute over Anambra’s financial records into a political battle ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
For now, the two sides remain sharply divided: Anambra says Obi left loans and unpaid liabilities; Obi insists he handed over a financially responsible state. The former governor’s promised detailed response is expected to address the government’s latest figures and allegations.
