Sir, you left behind loan debt, workers’ arrears unpaid, Anambra tells Obi
by Adenle Ahmed Abiola · The Eagle OnlineThe Anambra State Government has challenged former governor and Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Peter Obi, over his claim that he left the state without outstanding debts when he served as the governor.
It presented records which it said showed that his administration contracted $123.77 million in external loans and left unpaid salary and gratuity obligations.
The state government made the claims in a three-page statement issued on Wednesday in response to recent comments by Obi disputing allegations that his administration left debts for subsequent governments to service.
The development followed an earlier statement by Anambra Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, who said the state was still servicing loans obtained by previous administrations, including those of Obi and his successor, Willie Obiano. Okafor said deductions were still being made from the state’s monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee receipts to service the obligations.
In the new statement titled, “Gov Peter Obi and Record of Public Debt in Anambra: Facts Beyond Propaganda and Lies,” the state government said its response was necessary because Obi had made what it described as “outlandish claims” about the state’s public debt record.
According to the government, its records showed that Obi’s administration spent about $4.05 billion over eight years when its audited expenditure was converted using the average official exchange rates during the period, while also contracting $123.77 million in external debt.
It said the outstanding balance on the eight external loans stood at $92.35 million as of June 30, 2026, equivalent to about N127.37 billion at the official exchange rate used by the government.
The statement listed the loans as including the Malaria Control Booster Project, Third National Fadama Development Project, Health System Development Project II, State Education Programme Investment Project, Community and Social Development Project, Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project and Value Chain Development Project.
The government said the loans were obtained for projects covering malaria control, erosion management, education, healthcare and other development interventions, but argued that the existence of debt should not automatically be presented as evidence of poor governance.
“Debt, especially for bankable projects and human capital development, is justifiable,” the statement said, while arguing that Obi should not be portrayed as though “all debt is bad.”
The state government, however, said the issue extended beyond external borrowing, alleging that Obi also left salary, pension and gratuity obligations involving some categories of workers.
It specifically cited arrears owed to staff of the defunct Anambra State Water Corporation, saying the liabilities had persisted through Obi’s tenure and eventually resulted in court processes and judgments.
According to the government, the current administration had negotiated a settlement with the affected workers and had already paid the first two instalments of an agreed three-instalment settlement.
It also alleged that arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuities were owed to primary school teachers under the local government system.
The government said it had been informed that Obi’s administration verified and certified 16 months of salary arrears and agreed to pay them in instalments, but paid only five months.
“Your Excellency, you owed salaries, pensions and gratuities. Many of these people are still alive and can testify,” the statement said.
The government added that the Soludo administration had so far cleared about N22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears owed to retired state and local government employees and teachers, while some legacy arrears allegedly dating back to Obi’s tenure remained unresolved.
The fresh claims come a day after Obi rejected the allegations, describing them as false and challenging the Anambra Government to provide evidence of anyone his administration owed when he left office.
Obi said his administration had cleared more than N35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears inherited from previous governments and maintained that no salaries, pensions or gratuities were outstanding at the point of handover. He also said contractors whose projects had been executed and certified had been paid.
On the controversial ecological fund, Obi said the approximately N2 billion released by the Federal Government shortly before the end of his tenure was not a loan but money earmarked for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.
He said he deliberately left the money untouched for his successor because it was tied to the specific project and claimed that more than N2.13 billion remained in the relevant account when he left office. He further said the fund was separate from the more than N75 billion in savings he claimed his administration left behind.
Obi subsequently challenged anyone who could establish that he left behind the alleged liabilities to produce evidence, saying, “If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning.”
Reacting to the latest response from Anambra, presidential aide Bayo Onanuga said the state government had now presented facts and figures for Obi to address.
“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 in an X post on Wednesday.
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He added that the state government had confronted Obi’s position with its account of outstanding obligations.
“Now, the Anambra government has confronted him with facts and figures showing he owed Water Corporation workers, teachers, and pension and gratuities, and had also borrowed for frivolous things,” Onanuga said.
He then referred to Obi’s earlier challenge, writing, “The ball is back in his court. Will he follow through on his threat by quitting the race?”
The competing accounts have now placed the financial records of the Obi administration, including the status of loans, workers’ arrears and the ecological fund, at the centre of a fresh political dispute ahead of the 2027 general election.
Obi governed Anambra from 2006 to 2014 before handing over to Willie Obiano. The former governor is now the presidential candidate of the NDC for the 2027 election.
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