ABUJA — The Presidency has challenged former Anambra State Governor and presidential candidate Peter Obi to honour his earlier pledge to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race if claims about his administration’s financial record in the state are proven wrong.
The challenge followed a fresh dispute between Obi and the Anambra State Government over the financial liabilities allegedly inherited by successive administrations after he left office.
Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, raised the issue in a post on X on Wednesday, citing claims by the Anambra State Government that Obi’s administration left behind outstanding loans as well as salary, pension and gratuity arrears.
Onanuga said Obi had claimed that he left Anambra State without outstanding debts, but alleged that the state government had presented figures relating to liabilities inherited from his administration.
“Peter Obi claimed he left Anambra with a clean slate of debt,” Onanuga wrote, while referring to what he described as the state’s response concerning workers of the defunct Water Corporation, teachers, pensions and gratuities.
He also questioned whether Obi would honour his earlier pledge to stop campaigning for the presidency if evidence was produced contradicting his claims about the state’s finances.
The controversy followed a statement by the Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Dr Law Mefor, who disputed Obi’s account of the financial position of the state when he left office.
More Read
According to Mefor, the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo inherited various financial obligations and has so far cleared about N22 billion in gratuity arrears owed to retired state and local government employees as well as teachers.
The commissioner further claimed that outstanding loans connected to projects implemented during, or inherited by, the Obi administration remained on the state’s books.
Mefor identified eight external loans and put their combined outstanding balance at approximately $92.35 million, which he said was equivalent to about N127.37 billion as of June 30, 2026.
According to the state government, the loans were associated with projects covering areas such as malaria control, erosion management, healthcare, education, community development and agricultural value-chain development.
The commissioner also referred to salary arrears allegedly owed to workers of the former Anambra State Water Corporation, arguing that some legacy liabilities remained unresolved during successive administrations.
Mefor, however, said the state government was not interested in turning the issue into a dispute over which administration paid particular arrears, maintaining instead that the relevant financial obligations and their history should be properly established.
More Read
Obi’s Position
Obi has consistently disputed claims that his administration left Anambra State with outstanding salary, pension and gratuity obligations.
The former governor has said his administration cleared more than N35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears during its tenure and left office without outstanding obligations in those areas.
He has also challenged claims concerning the management of ecological funds, particularly funds earmarked for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.
Obi claimed that more than N2.13 billion remained untouched in a First Bank account designated for the erosion project.
He further maintained that his administration left more than N75 billion in savings for the incoming government.
The former governor subsequently issued a challenge of his own, saying he would stop campaigning for the presidency if anyone could establish evidence contradicting his account of the financial situation he left behind.
A Political Dispute Ahead of 2027
The latest exchange has added another dimension to the growing political debate surrounding Obi’s record as Anambra governor and his bid for the presidency in 2027.
The Presidency’s intervention has shifted the disagreement from a state-level debate over historical finances into a broader political controversy involving one of the prominent opposition figures preparing for the next presidential election.
For now, the two sides remain sharply divided over the state’s financial records, particularly the status of loans, gratuities, pensions, salaries and ecological funds.
While the Anambra Government has presented figures it says demonstrate the existence of inherited liabilities, Obi maintains that his administration left the state in a financially responsible position.
Independent verification of the competing claims would require examination of official loan agreements, audited financial statements, payment records, government account statements and other relevant documentation covering the period before and after Obi’s tenure.
The dispute is expected to remain a significant talking point as political activities ahead of the 2027 presidential election gather momentum.
