Anambra Debt Dispute Deepens as Presidency Challenges Peter Obi Over 2027 Pledge

The controversy over the financial obligations allegedly left behind by Peter Obi’s administration in Anambra State has intensified, with the Presidency challenging the former governor to honour an earlier pledge concerning his 2027 presidential bid. Obi, who governed Anambra State from 2006 to 2013 and is now the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, has maintained that he left the state without outstanding salary, pension, gratuity or contractor liabilities. However, the Anambra State Government has disputed his account, presenting figures and records that it says show that financial obligations remained after his administration. Reacting to the dispute on Wednesday, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, referred to Obi’s earlier statement that he would withdraw from the presidential race if claims about debts incurred under his administration were established. Onanuga said Obi had claimed that he left Anambra with a “clean slate of debt” and asked whether the former governor would now follow through on his pledge. “The ball is back in his court. Will he follow through on his threat by quitting the race?” Onanuga wrote in a post on X. The Presidency's position followed a fresh statement from the Anambra State Government disputing Obi’s explanation of the state’s finances. Anambra Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, said the state government had records showing outstanding financial obligations connected to Obi’s period in office. Mefor specifically disputed Obi’s claim concerning more than ₦2.13bn allegedly left untouched for the Oko and Umuchiana erosion crisis. According to the commissioner, the account identified by Obi was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account rather than an ecological fund account. He said a certified account printout obtained by the state showed that the alleged ₦2.13bn had never appeared in the account as either an inflow or balance. The state government also cited outstanding obligations involving workers of the former Anambra State Water Corporation, primary school teachers, pensions and gratuities. It further disputed Obi’s position on loans associated with his administration, with the state government saying external loan facilities remained outstanding. Obi, however, has rejected the allegations. He said his administration cleared more than ₦35bn in historical gratuities and arrears and left office without outstanding salary, pension or gratuity obligations. He also maintained his position concerning the ecological fund and challenged anyone who could establish that his account of Anambra’s finances was incorrect. “If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” Obi said. The disagreement has therefore developed into competing accounts of Anambra State’s financial position at the end of Obi’s tenure. While the state government says its records contradict Obi’s claims, the former governor maintains that his administration settled the obligations for which it was responsible. The latest intervention by the Presidency has brought the dispute into the wider political conversation ahead of the 2027 presidential election, particularly because of Obi’s previously stated position on withdrawing from the race if evidence contradicting his account emerged. The controversy is expected to continue as both sides point to financial records and previous statements in support of their respective positions.