- Former governor presents handover documents, denies liabilities, challenges government to produce evidence if..
By Princely Onyenwe | Political Desk
AWKA, ANAMBRA STATE — Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has rejected claims by the state government that his administration left behind outstanding debts, unpaid workers’ entitlements and a ₦2 billion ecological-related liability, challenging authorities to produce documentary evidence to support the allegations.
Obi, who served as governor from 2006 to 2014, made the clarification in a statement titled “Debunking the Phantom Debts and Ecological Loan Fallacy,” amid an escalating dispute over the financial position his administration left behind.
He maintained that his government systematically cleared historical gratuities and arrears dating back several years, amounting to more than ₦35 billion. According to Obi, Anambra owed nothing in salaries, gratuities or pensions at the point of handover, while contractors whose projects had been duly executed and certified had also been paid.
The former governor also disputed the description of the ecological money as a loan. Obi said about ₦2 billion was released barely three months before the end of his tenure for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis, but that he deliberately refused to spend it because it was tied to a specific project and should be preserved for his successor.
He further claimed that the money was left intact in a First Bank account, which he identified as Account No. 2018779464, with a balance of more than ₦2.13 billion. Obi said funds earmarked for specific projects were separate from the more than ₦75 billion in savings he said his administration left behind.
The Anambra State Government, however, has rejected Obi’s account and presented a direct challenge to his claim concerning the ecological fund. Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, said the government obtained a certified printout of the First Bank account cited by the former governor.
According to Mefor, the account was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account, not an ecological fund account, and the government claimed that records covering the account from its opening in 2011 showed no ₦2.13 billion balance or inflow as described by Obi. The commissioner consequently challenged the former governor to explain where the money he said he left behind was kept.
The state government has also disputed Obi’s broader claim that his administration left no outstanding financial obligations. Mefor said eight external borrowings contracted during the Obi administration remained outstanding, with their combined balance put at about ₦127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026, based on the government’s account of the debt records.
Mefor further alleged that salary, pension and gratuity liabilities connected to earlier administrations remained unresolved, including arrears involving retired teachers and workers of the former Water Corporation. He also disputed Obi’s claim of leaving more than ₦75 billion in savings, asking for records to substantiate the figure.
Obi, however, has stood by his account and thrown the issue back to his critics, declaring that if anyone can establish that his administration left the alleged liabilities, he would stop his 2027 presidential campaign.
The controversy has therefore shifted from political claims to a question of documentary evidence, with the disputed First Bank account, historical debt records, salary and pension arrears and the alleged savings now at the centre of the disagreement.
For now, the competing claims remain those of the former governor and the Anambra State Government. Independent verification of the underlying bank statements, debt records and handover documents would be required to conclusively establish the financial position of the state at the March 2014 transition.
Peter Obi has released his handover document in response to claims by the Anambra State Government that his administration left behind loans and other financial liabilities.
The document, dated March 17, 2014, reportedly shows the state’s financial position at the time of handover, including a net positive balance of over ₦86 billion. The Anambra Government, however, maintains that outstanding loans linked to previous administrations remain unpaid.
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