Anambra State government has released what it termed the public debt records of the presidential candidate of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Peter Obi, while he was governor of the state.
However, Obi has denied the allegations saying that he even left N2.1b Ecological fund that came few days to his exit in a bank account for his successor.
In a press statement signed by the State Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Dr Law Mefor, and titled ‘Gov Peter Obi and Record of Public Debt in Anambra: Facts Beyond Propaganda and Lies,’ the state government insisted Obi left behind debt as governor, both in domestic loans and unpaid pensions and gratuity.
The statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to a viral post by a former Governor of Anambra, HE Mr. Peter Obi, CON, on what he described as Phantom Debts and Ecological Loan Fallacy, which presumably was in response to some statements in a podcast by the Anambra State Commissioner for Finance.
“We understand that this is a campaign season and candidates often go to the extremes in order to impress. If not that the said post was in his personal handle, we would not have believed that he could have made such wild, and verifiably false claims. As a government, we are focused 100% on delivering dividends of democracy to millions of Ndi Anambra. However, when a former governor of the state makes some outlandish claims about the state of public debt he left behind and especially when the present government has been spending billions of naira servicing the same debt, a responsible government owes the public a response in the interest of transparency and accountability.”
Stating what it described as fact, the state government clarified that: “HE Peter Obi Spent about $4.05 billion (equivalent to NS.4 trillion at current exchange rate) in 8 years and also contracted US$123.77 million in external debt alone which our government has so far paid billions of naira in service payments.
“Let’s be clear: hardly any government in the world has zero debt stock. The issue is not whether or not borrowing is good: no business or government can scale significantly without some debt. Yes, we converted the audited and published expenditures using the average official exchange rates during the eight years of Peter Obi and they sum to about USS$4.05 billion.
“At the current official exchange rate, it would sum to about N5.4 trillon and he surely governed to the best of his ability. Of course, no government will ever finish the work of development.
“As at the date HE Peter Obi left office (17th March 2014), there were and still are 8 different external borrowings his administration left for his successors.
“As of June 30, 2026, the total balance of such loans left by HE Peter Obi at the official exchange rate stood at N127.4 billion. Here we summarise the latest report from the Debt Management Office (DMO) on Anambra’s debt status (as of June 2026), indicating the dates the loans were signed and the balance remaining.
“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. It is good for Anambra once we can show the impacts.”
The state government further stated that as at when Obi left office, he left behind a state without any functioning urban or rural water schemes; increasing insecurity and increased poverty, ostensibly dead public schools and dead public hospitals with grossly inadequate teachers and medical personnel (indeed 44% of all communities in Anambra, 78 out of 179) “did not and still do not have any public primary schools (and this administration is only beginning to close the gap)”.
They insisted he also left a decrepit infrastructure with huge urban slums, etc.
“Only about 27% of Anambra residents patronised public health institutions because of poor quality and nonfunctionality (he even admitted abandoning public health system at the recent NBA conference). We are convinced that many Ndi Anambra would not have minded if HE Peter Obi had borrowed to fix public schools and hospitals, water schemes, infrastructure, or even to reduce poverty and insecurity. Debt, especially for bankable projects and human capital development, is justifiable. So, HE Peter Obi should stop being irked as if all debt is bad,” it said.
The statement also said Obi owed verified salaries, gratuity and pension to retired teachers and staff of Water Corporation, adding that his statement on clearing all inherited arrears of pensions, salaries and gratuities were patently false, but it would not want to get into the debate between him and his predecessors regarding which arrears were paid by them or by him.
But Obi challenging the Anambra govt over the alleged debt claim, recalls funds he left in bank.
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi rejected claims by the Anambra State Government that it is still repaying debts incurred during his administration, insisting that he left office without unpaid salaries, pensions, contractors or suppliers.
Obi, who governed Anambra between 2006 and 2014, with interruptions arising from political and court disputes, spoke during an interview in Washington, DC, after the state government revived questions about liabilities inherited from previous administrations.
Anambra Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, had said Governor Charles Soludo’s administration was still servicing debts originating from past governments, including those of Obi and his successor, Willie Obiano.
Okafor said some external loan repayments were deducted directly from the state’s federal allocation and that the Soludo administration had been clearing a backlog of inherited obligations.
But Obi disputed the suggestion that he left unpaid obligations behind.
“As at the day I left office, I was not owing any salary, pension, or gratuity that Anambra state government is supposed to pay,” he 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.”
The NDC candidate also revisited the controversy surrounding a ₦2.1 billion ecological fund received by his administration shortly before he left office.
Obi said the money remained in a dedicated First Bank account at a branch in Nnamdi Azikiwe University when he handed over to Willie Obiano in March 2014.
According to him, the money had been specifically earmarked for an erosion-control project and was therefore not included among funds available for general government expenditure.
“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,” Obi said.
He said members of his administration had proposed spending the money before the transition, but he rejected the suggestion because the incoming government should be allowed to use it for its intended purpose.
Obi challenged anyone disputing his account to examine the bank records, saying he was prepared to release the relevant account details.
The former governor has also repeatedly maintained that his administration left substantial financial assets for Anambra. He has said $50 million each was held in Access Bank, the defunct Diamond Bank and Fidelity Bank when he left office — a total of $150 million. That remains Obi’s account of the state’s finances at the end of his tenure and has been a subject of political debate over the years.
The latest disagreement comes as Obi and Soludo occupy opposing positions in the approaching 2027 presidential election.
Obi emerged as the NDC presidential candidate in May, while Soludo, an All Progressives Grand Alliance governor, has publicly backed President Bola Tinubu for another term. Soludo said in March that APGA would not present a presidential candidate in 2027 and would instead support the party at the centre.
Asked about Soludo’s position, Obi said governors were entitled to support whichever candidate they preferred but urged them to ensure that voters were allowed to make their choice through a free and credible election.
“It’s about over 30 governors today supporting the president. And it is politics and their rights to support whoever they want,” Obi said.
“I’m not urging them to support me. I am only urging them to allow free, fair and credible elections.”
He added that he would respect whatever decision Nigerians made at the polls.
The disagreement is the latest chapter in a long-running public debate between Peter Obi and Charles Soludo over Obi’s record as Anambra governor and the value of assets his administration left behind. In November 2022, ahead of the 2023 presidential election, Soludo said investments credited to Obi’s administration were “worth next to nothing”, prompting Obi to respond that he had done his best as governor and that Soludo, as his successor, should seek to do better. Obi has continued to cite savings, investments and the absence of unpaid obligations as evidence of his fiscal management, while the Soludo administration now says it inherited debts linked to earlier governments. The renewed dispute has acquired added political significance ahead of 2027, with Obi now leading the NDC presidential ticket while Soludo and APGA have declared support for Tinubu’s re-election. Credit: NEWSSCROLL and THISDAYLIVE.
