The Anambra State Government has released details of eight external loans it claimed were inherited from the administration of former governor Peter Obi, a day after the presidential candidate challenged the state to prove that he left behind unpaid liabilities.
The state Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, in a statement on Wednesday said Obi, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate for the 2027 election, left eight external borrowings for his successors when he handed over power on March 17, 2014.
“As at the date HE Peter Obi left office (17th March 2014), there were and still are eight different external borrowings his administration left for his successors. As of June 30, 2026, the total balance of such loans left by HE Peter Obi at the official exchange rate stood at N127.4 billion,” Mefor said.
The government put the value of the loans at $123.77 million, noting that their outstanding balance stood at N127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026, based on the official exchange rate.
“Yes, we converted the audited and published expenditures using the average official exchange rates during the eight years of HE Peter Obi, and they sum to about US$4.05 billion. At the current official exchange rate, it would sum to about N5.4 trillion, and he surely governed to the best of his ability. Of course, no government will ever finish the work of development,” he said.
Mefor said the loans were obtained for projects covering malaria control, education, healthcare, erosion management, community development and agricultural value-chain development.
“HE Peter Obi Spent about $4.05 billion (equivalent to N5.4 trillion at the current exchange rate) in eight years and also contracted US$ 123.77 billion in external debt alone, for which our government has so far paid billions of naira in service payments,” he added.
The loans listed by the state include the Malaria Control Booster Project, Third National Fadama Development Project, Health System Development Project II, State Education Programme Investment Project, Community and Social Development Project, Nigeria Erosion, Watershed Management Project, and Value Chain Development Project.
The development followed a fresh dispute between Obi and the Anambra government over the financial position of the state when he left office after his eight-year tenure.
The commissioner for finance in the state, Izuchukwu Okafor, who spoke on ‘Voice of Ndi Anambra Podcast’, a video clip of which was posted on the Facebook page of Anambra State New Media on Monday said that the government was still repaying loans taken by previous administrations, including those of former governors Obi and Willie Obiano.
Okafor said the state’s monthly federal allocation was still being deducted to service the loans, noting that the incumbent Governor Soludo administration had not borrowed from any commercial bank since taking office and had reduced the state’s debt by more than 83 per cent.
Obi rejected the claims on Tuesday in a social media post, stating that his administration left the state with zero debts, salaries, pensions, gratuities or contractor liabilities.
He said his administration had cleared more than N35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears and maintained that, at the point of handover, Anambra owed nothing in salaries, pensions or gratuities and had no outstanding obligation to contractors whose projects had been executed and certified.
Obi also disputed the state government’s account of a disputed ecological fund.
He said more than N2.13 billion released about three months before the end of his tenure for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis was left untouched in a First Bank account for the incoming administration.
He subsequently challenged anyone who could establish that his account of the state’s finances was incorrect.
“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” Obi said.
The Anambra government in its latest statement has disputed the claim, saying it obtained a certified printout of the First Bank account identified by Obi.
According to Mefor, the account was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account, not an ecological fund account, and records from its opening in 2011 did not show an inflow or balance corresponding to the more than N2.13 billion claimed by Obi.
The commissioner also disputed Obi’s claim that he left more than N5 billion in savings for his successor, asking for records supporting the figure.
On inherited liabilities, Mefor said the Soludo administration had cleared about N22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears, while some legacy obligations remained.
He specifically cited arrears involving retired teachers and Water Corporation workers, noting that salary arrears for Water Corporation workers were eventually settled under the Soludo administration, while Obi’s administration allegedly verified and certified 16 months of salary arrears for primary school teachers but paid five months.
The debt controversy has now drawn the Presidency into the dispute, as Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, said Obi had claimed he left Anambra without debt and challenged the former governor to honour his pledge to stop his presidential campaign if the claim was disproved.
He added that the Anambra State Government had responded with claims concerning liabilities allegedly left by the former governor’s administration.
“The ball is back in his court. Will he follow through on his threat by quitting the race?” Onanuga said in a post on X.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.