The Peter Obi Anambra debt controversy has intensified after the Presidency challenged the former Anambra governor over his claims about the state’s financial position when he left office.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, asked Obi to honour his pledge to stop campaigning if his claims about Anambra’s finances were disproved.
Onanuga made the statement in a post on X on Wednesday. He cited fresh claims from the Anambra State Government about liabilities allegedly linked to Obi’s administration.
The dispute centres on debts, salary arrears, pensions, gratuities and an alleged ecological fund balance.
Presidency Challenges Obi Over Debt Claims
Onanuga said Obi had previously claimed that he left Anambra without outstanding debt.
He also recalled Obi’s statement that he would stop campaigning if anyone established otherwise.
According to Onanuga, the Anambra State Government has now presented figures that challenge Obi’s account.
He alleged that the former governor left liabilities involving Water Corporation workers, teachers, pensions and gratuities.
Onanuga also referred to claims that Obi’s administration borrowed money for projects he described as unnecessary.
He therefore asked Obi whether he would follow through on his earlier pledge.
The Presidency’s position follows a fresh exchange between Obi and the Anambra government over the state’s finances.
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The current dispute has also drawn attention because Obi is preparing for the 2027 presidential election under the Nigeria Democratic Congress.
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Obi has rejected the allegations made by the Anambra government.
The former governor said his administration cleared more than ₦35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears.
He also maintained that his government left office without outstanding salary, pension or gratuity obligations.
Obi further said the state did not owe contractors for projects that had been properly executed and certified.
His position directly conflicts with the claims now being made by the Anambra government.
The former governor has challenged anyone who can prove that his account of the state’s finances was inaccurate.
He said he would stop campaigning if evidence established that he left the state with outstanding liabilities.
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The disagreement has therefore shifted beyond the question of individual debts. It now involves competing accounts of the financial position Obi handed over in 2014.
Anambra Government Disputes ₦2.13bn Ecological Fund Claim
One of the biggest points of disagreement concerns an alleged ₦2.13 billion ecological fund.
Obi said more than ₦2.13 billion remained untouched when he left office.
He linked the money to the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis in Anambra State.
According to Obi, the money came shortly before the end of his administration.
He said he decided not to spend the funds because they were meant for a specific erosion control project.
Obi maintained that the money remained intact in a First Bank account for his successor.
However, Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Law Mefor, disputed the claim.
Mefor said the account identified by Obi was not an ecological fund account.
He described it as an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account.
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Government Says Bank Records Do Not Support Obi’s Claim
Mefor said the Anambra government obtained a certified printout of the First Bank account.
He said the record covered the account’s history from its opening in 2011.
According to the commissioner, the records did not show an inflow or balance of ₦2.13 billion.
He therefore challenged Obi to explain where the money he referenced was kept.
The government’s position has added another layer to the ongoing financial dispute.
Obi, however, has maintained that the funds existed and were left untouched for the intended erosion project.
The two sides have therefore presented conflicting accounts of the same financial issue.
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Anambra Lists Other Alleged Outstanding Liabilities
The ecological fund is not the only issue raised by the state government.
Mefor also addressed loans and other financial obligations allegedly connected to previous administrations.
According to the government’s account, eight external loans remained outstanding after Obi left office in March 2014.
The government said the combined balance of those loans stood at about ₦127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026.
The loans covered projects in areas including health, education, erosion control and agricultural development.
They also included projects linked to malaria control and community development.
The government attributed the outstanding balances to borrowings made during Obi’s tenure or inherited from earlier administrations.
However, the claims remain disputed because Obi has rejected the broader allegation that he left Anambra with unpaid obligations.
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Dispute Over Salaries, Pensions and Gratuities
The Anambra government also challenged Obi’s claim that his administration cleared all outstanding salary-related obligations.
Mefor said legacy arrears involving retired teachers and Water Corporation workers remained after Obi left office.
He said the Soludo administration later addressed some of the inherited liabilities.
The commissioner also claimed that Obi’s administration verified and certified 16 months of salary arrears for primary school teachers.
According to Mefor, the administration paid five months of those arrears.
He said the remaining obligations were later addressed by subsequent administrations.
Obi has disputed the government’s wider account of his financial record.
He has instead maintained that his administration systematically cleared historical arrears before handing over power.
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Obi Also Claimed More Than ₦75bn in Savings
Another issue in the dispute concerns savings allegedly left by Obi’s administration.
Obi had said his government left significant savings when it handed over power.
The Anambra government has questioned the documentation behind that claim.
Mefor asked for records supporting the reported savings figure.
The commissioner also rejected what he described as unsupported accounting claims.
The disagreement highlights the wider dispute over how Anambra’s finances should be assessed.
Both sides have presented different accounts of the state’s financial position at the end of Obi’s tenure.
Independent verification of the competing claims would require examination of the relevant financial records and official documents.
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Onanuga Asks Obi to Honour His Pledge
The latest intervention from the Presidency centres on Obi’s earlier statement about his campaign.
Onanuga argued that the former governor had set a condition for himself.
He recalled that Obi said he would stop campaigning if anyone proved that he left Anambra with outstanding obligations.
The presidential aide said the state government’s latest allegations had returned the issue to Obi.
He asked whether Obi would now act on his earlier statement.
The question comes as political activity ahead of the 2027 election continues to increase.
Obi remains a prominent opposition figure and has positioned himself as a presidential candidate under the NDC.
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Obi’s Earlier Statement Remains Central to Dispute
Obi’s own words have become central to the latest exchange.
He challenged anyone who could establish that his account of Anambra’s finances was wrong.
“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” he said.
The Presidency has now seized on that statement.
Onanuga argued that the Anambra government’s latest claims provide the basis for Obi to respond.
Obi has yet to withdraw from the presidential race over the controversy.
The former governor continues to dispute the allegations made against his administration.
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Anambra Debt Dispute Enters 2027 Politics
The controversy comes against the backdrop of preparations for the 2027 presidential election.
Financial records from Obi’s time as governor have become part of the political debate surrounding his candidacy.
The Presidency and Anambra government have questioned his account of the state’s liabilities.
Obi has continued to defend his administration’s record.
The disagreement has also placed renewed attention on Anambra’s historical borrowing and financial obligations.
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What Happens Next?
The immediate focus is on whether Obi will respond to the Presidency’s latest challenge.
The former governor has already rejected the debt allegations and defended his record in office.
The Anambra government, meanwhile, has maintained that its records contradict several of his claims.
The dispute now includes questions about loans, salary arrears, pensions, gratuities, savings and the disputed ecological fund.
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Until the competing claims are supported by the underlying financial records, the allegations from both sides remain part of an ongoing political dispute.
For now, the Peter Obi Anambra debt controversy continues to generate competing claims from Obi, the Anambra State Government and the Presidency.
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The coming responses from the former governor and the state government are likely to determine the next stage of the dispute.
