The Presidency has challenged former Anambra State Governor and Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate Peter Obi to honour his pledge to stop campaigning for the 2027 presidency if claims about his administration’s financial record in the state are proven against him.
Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the challenge in a post on X on Wednesday, following a fresh exchange between Obi and the Anambra State Government over debts, unpaid liabilities and funds allegedly left behind when he handed over power in 2014.
Onanuga recalled that Obi had claimed he left Anambra without outstanding debt and had said he would stop campaigning if anyone established otherwise.
“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.
The presidential aide said the Anambra State Government had since presented figures and records challenging Obi’s account, including claims concerning workers of the Water Corporation, teachers, pensions and gratuities, as well as loans associated with projects undertaken during previous administrations.
“The ball is back in his court. Will he follow through on his threat by quitting the race?” Onanuga asked.
The controversy intensified after Obi rejected claims by the Anambra government that his administration left behind financial obligations when he handed over to former Governor Willie Obiano in March 2014.
Obi said his administration had cleared more than ₦35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears and maintained that there were no outstanding salaries, pensions, gratuities or debts owed to contractors for projects that had been duly completed and certified.
He also challenged anyone to produce evidence contradicting his account.
“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” Obi said.
One of the main points of disagreement concerns more than ₦2.13 billion that Obi said was left untouched in a First Bank account for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.
Obi said the money had been released shortly before the end of his tenure for the specific project and that he deliberately left it for his successor rather than spending it.
The Anambra State Government has disputed that account.
Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, said the First Bank account cited by Obi was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account, not an ecological fund account.
Mefor said the state obtained a certified printout covering the account’s history and claimed the records did not show the amount cited by Obi.
“From 2011 when the account was opened until date, there has never been any such amount, whether as inflow or balance, in the account,” Mefor said.
The state government has also cited outstanding external loans in its response to Obi.
According to figures released by the Anambra government, eight external loans associated with projects approved during Obi’s administration remained outstanding, with the balance put at about $92.35 million, or ₦127.4 billion, as of June 30, 2026, using the exchange rate applied by the state in its calculation.
The loans listed by the state include projects relating to malaria control, health system development, education, community development, erosion and watershed management, agricultural development and the Fadama programme.
The government has also disputed Obi’s claim that his administration left no unpaid salary, pension or gratuity obligations.
Mefor said the Soludo administration had cleared about ₦22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears, while alleging that liabilities involving retired teachers and Water Corporation workers remained from previous administrations.
The commissioner also claimed that 16 months of salary arrears for primary school teachers had been verified and certified during Obi’s administration, but that only five months were paid.
The competing accounts have placed the financial position of Anambra at the point of the 2014 handover at the centre of the political dispute.
Obi maintains that his administration substantially cleared inherited liabilities and handed over the state without the outstanding obligations alleged by the current government. The Anambra government, meanwhile, says debt records, worker arrears and its review of the disputed bank account contradict parts of that account.
The Presidency’s intervention has now brought the dispute into the 2027 presidential contest, with Onanuga specifically asking whether Obi will act on his own pledge if the claims against his administration are established.
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