Anambra Government Tackles Peter Obi Again, Says His Administration Left $123.7m in Loans

The Anambra State Government has renewed its dispute with former governor and 2027 presidential candidate Peter Obi over his claim that he left office without outstanding debt or unpaid financial obligations.

The Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, said on Saturday that Obi’s administration left behind external loan obligations as well as salary, pension and gratuity arrears.

The latest response followed Obi’s repeated challenge to the state government to provide evidence that he left Anambra with debt when he handed over power on March 17, 2014.

The state government said it had previously chosen not to engage extensively with Obi over the matter because it had been servicing the obligations without making them a political issue.

According to Mefor, however, Obi’s challenge required the government to present its position and the records it relied upon.

The state said Obi’s administration was associated with eight external loan facilities with a combined contracted value of about $123.77 million between 2007 and 2013. The facilities were linked to development programmes involving areas such as malaria control, erosion management, education and healthcare.

The government said records from the Debt Management Office (DMO) show that the facilities remained outstanding and that the balance had reached $92.35 million as of June 30, 2026, equivalent to about ₦127.37 billion at the applicable exchange rate.

Mefor argued that the existence of a loan obligation does not depend on whether a governor personally approached a commercial bank or the DMO to obtain the funds.

“Peter Obi, you do not have to ‘go to a bank or DMO’ before your borrowing can be perfected. All that is required is for you to sign the loan agreements and your government did.”

The commissioner also said the Soludo administration had spent years servicing inherited obligations without publicly blaming the previous administration.

“This government has been in office for four and a half years and has never complained about any inherited debt, whether borrowings or salary arrears, and has been paying billions of Naira to service them.”

The debt dispute has centred partly on how the external financing should be classified.

Obi has rejected the description of the $123.77 million as debt he left behind. In a statement on Friday, he said the figure combined different categories of multilateral development financing and did not represent the amount outstanding when he left office.

He maintained that he did not personally approach a financial institution to borrow money or issue a bond on behalf of Anambra during his tenure.

Obi also argued that the projects were financed through multilateral development programmes negotiated by the Federal Government, with participating states accessing the funds through subsidiary arrangements.

“As Governor of Anambra State, I did not approach any financial institution to borrow funds or issue a bond on behalf of the state.”

He said the state government should distinguish between the total amount approved for multiyear programmes, the amount actually drawn during his tenure and the amount outstanding when he handed over power.

The former governor also cited former DMO Director-General Abraham Nwankwo, saying Nwankwo had described him as the only state governor during his 10-year tenure at the DMO who had not approached him for a loan facility.

Beyond the external loans, Anambra officials have also disputed Obi’s claim that he left office without unpaid salaries, pensions and gratuities.

The state government previously said it had cleared about ₦22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears and alleged that some legacy salary obligations dating back to earlier administrations remained unresolved after Obi left office.

The government has also produced documents relating to salary arrears involving workers of defunct state agencies. One set of documents presented by the state concerns ₦363.38 million in salary arrears covered by a settlement reached with affected workers.

Obi has disputed those claims, maintaining that his administration cleared more than ₦35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears and left Anambra without outstanding salaries, pensions, gratuities or certified contractor obligations.

The two sides therefore remain divided over whether the financial obligations now being serviced by Anambra should properly be described as debts left by Obi’s administration and over the amount that was actually outstanding when he handed over power.

The dispute has become part of the wider political debate surrounding Obi’s 2027 presidential campaign, but the competing claims about the state’s historical liabilities remain a matter of interpretation of financial records and the terms of the respective development financing agreements.