By ThePreview Team

 

The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council has escalated the controversy over the financial records of Anambra State under former Governor Peter Obi, accusing the 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) of making false claims about the state’s debt position when he left office in 2014.

In a statement issued on Monday by its spokesperson, Dele Alake, the campaign council said recent disclosures by the Anambra State Government had contradicted Mr Obi’s repeated claim that he handed over the state without outstanding liabilities.

The council said the former governor and his supporters had, over the years, portrayed his eight-year administration as one characterised by fiscal discipline and prudent management of public resources.

“In the past four years, Mr Peter Obi and his supporters packaged Obi’s tenure as Anambra governor as one defined by exceptional fiscal prudence, including the claim that he left Anambra without a debt burden. Obi himself was presented as a squeaky-clean politician,” the statement said.

Mr Alake said records released by the Anambra government showed that Mr Obi’s administration contracted external loans and left liabilities that were subsequently serviced by succeeding administrations.

“The facade of falsehood built around Peter Obi, the NDC presidential candidate, has now been torn to shreds, with Obi’s persona deconstructed after disclosures by the Anambra State Government, which responded to Obi’s challenge to verify his record,” he said.

According to the campaign council, the Anambra government said Mr Obi’s administration spent about $4.05 billion, which it valued at N5.4 trillion, during his eight years in office and contracted $123.77 million in external loans.

It said eight external borrowings remained on the books when Mr Obi handed over power on 17 March 2014, with the loans covering projects in malaria control, erosion management, education and healthcare.

The council said subsequent administrations, including the current administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo, continued to service the loans.

The latest attack followed a renewed dispute between Mr Obi and the Anambra State Government over the state’s financial position at the end of his administration.

The controversy began after the state Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, said during a podcast that the Soludo administration was still repaying loans and other debts incurred by previous administrations, including that of Mr Obi.

Mr Obi rejected the claim, saying he did not leave Anambra owing salaries, pensions, gratuities or contractors whose projects had been completed and certified.

He later challenged the state government to provide evidence that he left behind debt, saying he would stop campaigning for the presidency if such evidence was produced.

“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” Mr Obi said.

In response, the Anambra government released details of eight external loans, which it attributed to the Obi administration.

The state said the loans, contracted between 2007 and 2013, amounted to $123.7 million and had an outstanding balance of $92.35 million as of June 2026.

Using the prevailing exchange rate, the government put the outstanding balance at N127.37 billion as of 30 June 2026.

The loans were reportedly tied to projects including the Malaria Control Booster Project, the Third FADAMA Development Project, the Health System Development Project II (Additional Financing), the State Education Programme Investment Project, and the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project.

The Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, said the figures were compiled from the Debt Management Office’s latest debt report.

He, however, said the state government was not opposed to borrowing where loans were used for viable projects and human capital development.
The commissioner also disputed Mr Obi’s claim that he left office without salary, pension and gratuity arrears.

Mr Mefor said the current administration had cleared about N22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears owed to retired state and local government employees and teachers, while some legacy liabilities remained.

He specifically cited salary arrears owed to workers of the defunct Anambra Water Corporation, which he said had persisted since the Obi administration and eventually resulted in court proceedings.

The commissioner also alleged that Mr Obi did not fully settle 16 months of salary arrears owed to primary school teachers under the local government system, saying only five months were paid.

These claims are disputed by Mr Obi, who has maintained that his administration systematically cleared historical liabilities and paid more than N35 billion in gratuities and arrears before leaving office.

The APC campaign council seized on the dispute to question Mr Obi’s record as governor.

Mr Alake said borrowing in itself was not necessarily improper. Still, he argued that the existence of the loans was inconsistent with Mr Obi’s repeated public claim that he left Anambra without a debt burden.

“Borrowing is not injudicious if used for development. But for a man who prides himself on being austere and has frequently claimed he left the state with a clean bill of health, the revelations confirmed what has long been held: Obi is an irredeemable liar, a mediocre governor, unfit for leadership anywhere,” he said.

The council also alleged that workers in some ministries were owed during Mr Obi’s administration, citing a 2006 memo by his then Chief of Staff, Chuks Ileogbunam, concerning unpaid salaries of Water Corporation workers.

“Even more confounding is that despite these borrowings, Obi has nothing to show for his stewardship across Anambra’s sectors. He failed to pay workers’ salaries in some ministries. Water Corporation staff were among those who protested over unpaid salaries.”

According to the APC council, the memo, dated 25 April 2006, asked Mr Obi to provide N15 million monthly to pay the corporation’s workers and avert protests at the Governor’s Office.

The council said the memo was evidence that salary arrears existed during Mr Obi’s administration.

ALSO READ: Anambra govt says it’s repaying loans incurred by Peter Obi, Obiano administrations

It further linked the issue to an alleged campaign promise by Mr Obi that he would resign as governor if any worker were found not to have been paid as and when due.

Quit presidential race

The APC campaign council said Mr Obi should honour his own challenge over the debt controversy and withdraw from the 2027 presidential race if the allegations against his administration are established.

The council also accused him of having “nothing to show” for the borrowings and made several political and personal attacks against the former governor.

The council also criticised Mr Obi over a recent solidarity visit to an unnamed individual facing an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) trial, describing the case as another issue his supporters should be concerned about.

The individual Mr Obi visited is presumed to be the former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, whom he visited earlier in March.

Mr Alake concluded by calling on the former governor to “seek the forgiveness” of the Anambra people. He said he should resign from the 2027 presidential contest if the liabilities were proven.