The Anambra State Government on Wednesday disputed former Gov. Peter Obi’s claims that he left the state without outstanding debts, salaries, pensions or other financial obligations when he left office in 2014.
The government, in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, said records from the Debt Management Office showed that eight external loans associated with projects approved during Obi’s administration remained outstanding as of June 30, 2026.
The government said the outstanding balance of the loans was $92.35 million, equivalent to about 127.37 billion naira at the exchange rate used in its statement.
The loans, according to the statement, were for projects including malaria control, health system development, education, erosion and watershed management, community development and value-chain development. The government said the loans were signed between 2007 and 2013.
The statement followed comments by Obi disputing claims by the current administration that it was still servicing loans incurred during his tenure. Obi has also challenged the state government to provide evidence of any outstanding obligations he left behind when he handed over power in March 2014.
The Anambra government also disputed Obi’s claim that his administration cleared inherited salary, pension and gratuity arrears.
It said it had paid about 22 billion naira in inherited gratuity arrears involving retired state and local government employees and teachers, but alleged that some liabilities dating to previous administrations remained outstanding.
The government specifically cited salary arrears involving workers of the defunct Water Corporation, saying it had negotiated a settlement and paid two of three agreed installments.
It also alleged that Obi’s administration had verified 16 months of salary arrears owed to primary school teachers but paid only five months. The government said it had begun a fresh verification process for the remaining obligations.
The government further challenged Obi’s claim that more than 2 billion naira was left in an ecological fund account at a First Bank branch at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka.
According to the statement, records obtained for the account showed it was an internally generated revenue consolidated account and not an ecological fund account. The government said it found no transaction showing that 2.13 billion naira entered or remained in the account between its opening in 2011 and the present.
Obi has maintained that the money was released shortly before he left office for erosion-control work and that he left it untouched for that purpose. He also said the ecological funds were separate from more than 75 billion naira in savings he claimed his administration left behind.
The dispute comes as Obi, who is now a presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, and the Anambra State Government trade claims over the financial position inherited by successive administrations.
The Debt Management Office maintains an official database of subnational debt records, including state domestic and external debt reports.
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