The Anambra State Government has released details of loans it says remained outstanding after former Governor Peter Obi left office in 2014, disputing his claim that his administration left the state without outstanding debts or financial liabilities.
The government, through the Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, described Obi’s recent claims on the state’s debt profile as inaccurate and said available public records contradicted some of his assertions.
In a statement issued on Wednesday and titled, “Gov Peter Obi and Record of Public Debt in Anambra: Facts Beyond Propaganda and Lies,” the government said eight external loans obtained during or inherited into Obi’s administration remained outstanding.
According to the statement, the combined outstanding balance of the loans stood at $92.35 million, which the government put at N127.37 billion as of June 30, 2026.
The loans, it said, were linked to projects covering malaria control, erosion management, healthcare, education, community development, agricultural development and other sectors.
The government listed a $48.33 million additional financing facility for the Malaria Control Booster Project, with $37.34 million still outstanding, as well as a $37.89 million Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project loan, of which $34.86 million remained unpaid as of June 30, 2026.
Mefor said the current administration had continued to service the loans and maintained that borrowing was not necessarily a problem when funds were used for viable projects and human-capital development.
He said the major concern was whether borrowed funds were properly accounted for and whether they delivered measurable benefits to the people.
The state government also rejected Obi’s claim that he left office without outstanding salary, pension and gratuity obligations.
According to Mefor, the Soludo administration inherited and cleared about N22 billion in gratuity arrears owed to retired state and local government workers and teachers.
The government further alleged that salary arrears involving workers of the former Anambra State Water Corporation remained unresolved during Obi’s tenure and were later addressed by the present administration.
It said a settlement arrangement had been reached with the affected workers, with two of three agreed instalments already paid.
The government also claimed that some primary school teachers were owed salary, pension and gratuity arrears dating back to the administration of former Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju.
Mefor said Obi’s administration had verified 16 months of salary arrears and agreed to settle them in instalments but paid only five months.
He added that the current administration had commenced another verification exercise to determine the outstanding liabilities.
The dispute also centres on Obi’s claim that more than N2.13 billion was left in an account as an ecological fund for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.
Obi had identified a First Bank account and said the money had been released shortly before he left office but was deliberately left untouched because it was earmarked for the erosion project.
However, the Anambra Government said a certified statement of the account showed no record of an N2.13 billion deposit or balance at any time.
According to Mefor, the account identified by Obi was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account and not an ecological fund account.
He said records from the opening of the account in 2011 to the present did not show any inflow or balance corresponding to the amount claimed by the former governor.
The commissioner therefore asked Obi to explain where the money was kept if it was indeed received by his administration.
The government also disputed Obi’s claim that his administration left more than N75 billion in savings for subsequent governments.
Mefor described the figure as unsupported by the records cited by the state government but did not provide a detailed breakdown of the alleged savings in the latest statement.
The latest exchange adds to an ongoing dispute over the financial position of Anambra State when Obi handed over power to Willie Obiano in March 2014.
Obi has continued to maintain that his administration cleared substantial inherited liabilities and left the state in a strong financial position, while the current Anambra Government has continued to challenge aspects of that account.
The controversy comes as Obi, now the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), prepares for the 2027 general elections.
Both sides have continued to rely on their respective interpretations of the state’s financial records, with the Anambra Government insisting that public documents should ultimately determine the facts.
