Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has again denied borrowing money or issuing bonds on behalf of Anambra State during his eight years as governor, rejecting claims by the state government that his administration left outstanding debt obligations.
Obi made the clarification on Arise TV’s Prime Time programme on Thursday while responding to the ongoing dispute with the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo over Anambra’s debt position.
The former governor said he left office on March 17, 2014, without outstanding salaries, pensions or gratuities due from the state government, and without unpaid bills to contractors or suppliers whose completed work had been properly certified and verified.
“Let me categorically state again: I, Mr Peter Obi, did not approach any financial institution to borrow money or issue bonds on behalf of Anambra State in the eight years I was in government.”
Obi also distinguished between money directly borrowed by a state government and development-financing arrangements involving federal institutions and multilateral organisations.
He specifically referred to funding under the State Education Programme Investment Project (SEPIP), saying Anambra was one of three states, alongside Ekiti and Bauchi, selected for concessionary multilateral support because of their performance in education.
According to Obi, the funding involved the World Bank and was supported through a Federal Government arrangement rather than a commercial bank loan independently obtained by Anambra State.
“Not that we go to World Bank and say give me this, not that we go to any commercial bank. And to even make it more… when it came, if you look at State Education Programme Investment Project (SEPIP), you will see that the drawdown was well after I left office.”
He argued that the existence of an approved financing facility should not automatically mean the entire approved amount was a debt incurred by the state, particularly where funds had not been drawn down.
Using an example, Obi said if a government secured a ₦10 billion facility but drew only ₦500 million, it would be incorrect to describe the entire ₦10 billion as money owed.
“You cannot now say I’m owing 10 billion because you know the amount. That’s why I said it is not proper public sector accounting.”
His comments came after the Anambra State Government released details of eight external borrowing facilities that it said were associated with projects undertaken during Obi’s tenure.
The state government said the facilities had an original value of about $123.7 million, with an outstanding balance of $92.35 million, equivalent to approximately ₦127.4 billion, as of June 30, 2026. The government said the figures were based on its interpretation of the latest Debt Management Office (DMO) data.
The loans identified by the state include financing for projects involving malaria control, healthcare, education, erosion management, agriculture and community development. The state said successive administrations had continued to service the obligations.
The disagreement therefore centres partly on the meaning of “debt” and who contracted or drew down the various facilities, rather than simply whether financing arrangements existed.
The Anambra Government maintains that eight external borrowing facilities remained outstanding after Obi left office and that the state continues to service them. Obi, however, maintains that he did not personally approach financial institutions to borrow money or issue bonds for Anambra and argues that some of the facilities were federally supported development programmes.
Obi also disputed allegations that his administration left unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities and certified contractor obligations.
The state government has separately alleged that some legacy liabilities remained, including obligations involving former Water Corporation workers and pensioners. The government has also disputed Obi’s earlier claim that more than ₦2.13 billion was left in an ecological fund account for the state.
Obi said his position could be supported by the former Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Abraham Nwankwo, who he said served for 10 years.
According to Obi, Nwankwo invited him to chair his send-off ceremony and stated publicly that Obi was the only governor who had never visited the DMO to seek approval to borrow money.
“He announced it to everybody at that party that the reason why he made me chairman is because I was the only governor in Nigeria who never came to his office for approval to borrow money.”
The dispute has become increasingly political ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with the Anambra State Government challenging Obi over his claims about the state’s financial position when he left office.
Obi had previously said he would stop campaigning for the presidency if it could be established that he left Anambra with outstanding debt or unpaid obligations to certified contractors.
The latest exchange has also drawn responses from Obi’s political supporters. The OK Movement and NDC have criticised Soludo’s continued focus on Obi, arguing that the governor should concentrate on governing Anambra rather than making the former governor the centre of political attacks.
Those responses are part of the wider political dispute and do not resolve the underlying accounting question over the external financing facilities.
At the centre of the controversy remains a factual question that has not been settled by the competing public statements: which financing facilities were legally contracted by Anambra during Obi’s tenure, how much was actually drawn down before he left office, what liabilities were outstanding on March 17, 2014, and how those obligations have subsequently been serviced. The parties currently offer different interpretations of those records.
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