The Anambra State Government has released details of loans it says were linked to projects undertaken or inherited during the administration of former Governor Peter Obi, disputing his claim that he left office without outstanding financial obligations.
The latest development is part of an ongoing dispute between Obi and the state government over Anambra’s debt profile and the financial position of the state when he handed over power in March 2014.
Obi had rejected allegations that his administration left behind unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities, contractor debts or other financial liabilities. He said his government cleared more than ₦35 billion in historical arrears before leaving office and challenged anyone with evidence to the contrary to produce it.
In a statement titled “Gov Peter Obi and Record of Public Debt in Anambra: Facts Beyond Propaganda and Lies,” the state Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, said records showed that eight external loans associated with projects implemented during or inherited by the Obi administration remained outstanding.
According to the state government, the combined outstanding balance of the loans stood at $92.35 million as of June 30, 2026, which it valued at about ₦127.37 billion at the official exchange rate.
The loans, according to the government, were tied to projects covering areas such as malaria control, healthcare, education, erosion and watershed management, community development, agricultural development and value-chain projects.
Among the facilities cited was additional financing of $48.33 million for the Malaria Control Booster Project, of which the government said $37.34 million remained outstanding.
Another was a $37.89 million facility for the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project, with an outstanding balance of $34.86 million, according to the state government.
The government said the current administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo is continuing to service the inherited obligations, with deductions reportedly being made from the state’s federal allocations.
Mefor also disputed Obi’s claim that his administration left the state without salary, pension and gratuity arrears.
He said the Soludo administration had so far paid about ₦22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears owed to retired state and local government workers and teachers, while some other legacy obligations remained unresolved.
The commissioner further alleged that 16 months of salary arrears owed to primary school teachers had been verified during the Obi administration, but that only five months were paid.
The state government also challenged Obi’s claim that more than ₦2.13 billion was left in an ecological fund account at First Bank for the incoming administration.
According to Mefor, the account referenced by Obi was actually an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account and not an ecological fund account. He said certified bank records obtained by the state did not show the amount claimed by Obi as either an inflow or balance in the account.
Obi, however, has maintained that the money was released shortly before the end of his tenure for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion project and that he deliberately left it untouched for the incoming government to execute the project. He has also maintained that the ecological funds were separate from the more than ₦75 billion in savings he said his administration left behind.
The former governor has challenged the Anambra government to produce documentary evidence to substantiate its allegations, saying he would stop campaigning if his claims were proven wrong.
The dispute has therefore continued to centre on how Anambra’s financial position should be assessed at the point of Obi’s handover in 2014, particularly the distinction between loans associated with projects undertaken during his administration, inherited obligations, and liabilities that remained outstanding after he left office.
