By Asaye Bankole
The Presidency has challenged former Anambra State Governor and 2027 presidential candidate Peter Obi to honour his pledge to stop campaigning if it is established that his administration left behind outstanding debts and other financial liabilities.
Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, issued the challenge on Wednesday following fresh allegations by the Anambra State Government concerning loans, salary arrears, pensions and gratuities allegedly inherited from previous administrations.
Obi had earlier rejected claims that he left Anambra with outstanding financial obligations when he handed over power in 2014.
He said his administration cleared more than N35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears and maintained that the state did not owe salaries, pensions or gratuities at the time of handover.
The former governor also challenged anyone with evidence contradicting his account to produce it, saying he would stop campaigning if his claims were proven wrong.
However, the Anambra State Government has presented a different account of the state’s financial position.
The state Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, said eight external loans connected to projects implemented during or inherited by Obi’s administration remained outstanding.
According to the state government, the combined outstanding balance on the loans was $92.35 million, which it valued at approximately N127.37 billion as of June 30, 2026.
The loans were associated with projects involving malaria control, erosion management, healthcare, education, community development and agricultural development.
Mefor also disputed Obi’s claim that he left office without outstanding salary, pension and gratuity obligations.
He said the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo had paid about N22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears owed to retired state and local government workers and teachers.
The commissioner further cited salary arrears involving workers of the defunct Anambra State Water Corporation, saying the current administration had negotiated a settlement and paid two of three agreed instalments.
He also alleged that Obi’s administration verified 16 months of salary arrears for primary school teachers but paid only five months.
Another major point of disagreement is the alleged N2.13 billion ecological fund.
Obi had said his administration left more than N2.13 billion in a First Bank account for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion-control project.
He explained that the money was released shortly before he left office and that he deliberately left it untouched because it was earmarked for the specific project.
He also maintained that the ecological funds were separate from more than N75 billion in savings which he said his administration left for its successor.
Mefor, however, disputed the claim, saying the First Bank account identified by Obi was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account and not an ecological fund account.
The commissioner said the state government had obtained a certified statement of the account covering its transactions from inception and claimed that the records did not show an inflow or balance matching the amount cited by Obi.
The state government also questioned Obi’s claim that his administration left more than N75 billion in savings, asking for records to substantiate the figure.
Onanuga, in his reaction, pointed to the conflicting accounts and asked whether Obi would fulfil his earlier pledge to withdraw from the presidential race if the allegations against his administration were established.
The dispute has now become part of the political debate ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with Obi maintaining that he left Anambra without the liabilities alleged by the current government, while the state government says its records show outstanding loans and other obligations.
The competing claims over Anambra’s financial position at the end of Obi’s tenure remain the subject of the ongoing political exchange.
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