Soludo administration publishes eight loan records as Obi disputes debt claims and challenges government to prove he left outstanding liabilities
AWKA — The Anambra State Government has released details of loans it says were contracted during the administration of former Governor Peter Obi, insisting that the former governor left the state with outstanding external debt and other financial liabilities when he handed over power in March 2014.
The disclosure has escalated the growing dispute between Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s administration and Obi, who is now the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) ahead of the 2027 general election.
The Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Dr Law Mefor, released the government’s position in a statement titled, “Gov Peter Obi and Record of Public Debt in Anambra: Facts Beyond Propaganda and Lies.”
According to the state government, records from the Debt Management Office (DMO) show that eight external loans associated with projects undertaken during Obi’s tenure remained outstanding as of June 30, 2026.
The government said the eight loans originally amounted to about $123.77 million, with an outstanding balance of approximately $92.35 million as of June 30, 2026. Using the exchange rate applied by the state government, the outstanding balance was put at about N127.4 billion.
The loans, according to the government, were obtained for projects covering areas including malaria control, erosion control, education, healthcare, community development, agriculture and watershed management.
The state government said subsequent administrations have continued to service the obligations, with the current administration making regular payments towards the outstanding loans.
Mefor said the government decided to release the records after Obi rejected earlier claims by the state Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, that Anambra was still servicing loans incurred during previous administrations.
The commissioner said the government had a responsibility to respond because the issue involved public funds and the financial obligations of the state.
The government also acknowledged that borrowing itself was not necessarily evidence of wrongdoing.
According to the statement, Obi borrowed for projects including malaria control, erosion management, education and healthcare, and the current administration was not complaining about servicing the loans where the borrowing had been used for identifiable public projects.
The state government, however, disputed Obi’s claim that he left office without outstanding financial obligations.
Obi had earlier rejected the allegations, insisting that his administration cleared historical liabilities before handing over to his successor, Willie Obiano, on March 17, 2014.
He said his administration had systematically paid historical gratuities and arrears amounting to more than N35 billion and maintained that the state owed nothing in salaries, pensions, gratuities or certified payments to contractors at the point of handover.
Obi also challenged the Anambra Government to provide evidence if it could establish that he personally left unpaid debts or other outstanding obligations.
He said he would stop campaigning for the 2027 presidential election if the state government could prove its claims.
The Anambra Government has now disputed that position, saying its records show continuing financial obligations linked to loans contracted during Obi’s administration.
The government also challenged Obi’s account of an ecological fund which he said was left behind for his successor to address erosion in the Oko/Umuchiana area.
Obi had said more than N2.13 billion was left untouched in a First Bank account for the specific ecological project.
However, Mefor said the state government obtained a certified statement of the account identified by Obi and claimed the account was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account rather than an ecological fund account.
The commissioner said the government’s records did not show the N2.13 billion balance claimed by the former governor and asked Obi to explain where the money was kept.
The government also challenged Obi’s claim that his administration left substantial savings for the succeeding government.
Mefor questioned the documentary records supporting Obi’s claim of more than N75 billion in savings and said the government would not rely on what it described as “nebulous creative accounting.”
Beyond the external loans, the state government alleged that unpaid salary, pension and gratuity liabilities also remained after Obi left office.
Mefor said the Soludo administration had cleared about N22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears owed to retired state and local government employees and teachers.
He further alleged that outstanding liabilities included arrears involving retired teachers and workers of the Anambra State Water Corporation.
According to the commissioner, the Obi administration had verified and certified 16 months of salary arrears for primary school teachers but paid only five months.
The government also alleged that salary arrears involving Water Corporation workers continued beyond the Obi administration and were later addressed by the Soludo administration.
The allegations have not been accepted by Obi, who maintains that his administration cleared the obligations due before it left office.
The state government also made a broader assessment of the condition of Anambra when Obi left office, alleging that the state had inadequate public water schemes, insecurity, poverty, weak public schools and hospitals, and serious infrastructure challenges.
It claimed that only about 27 per cent of residents patronised public health institutions because of what it described as poor quality and inadequate functionality.
The government further claimed that 78 of Anambra’s 179 communities did not have public primary schools at the time, although it acknowledged that successive administrations have also had responsibilities for addressing the state’s development gaps.
The administration argued that if Obi had borrowed specifically for bankable projects, human capital development, public schools, hospitals, water schemes and other measurable development programmes, the borrowing itself would not necessarily be objectionable.
The latest disclosure has therefore shifted the argument from whether Anambra borrowed money during Obi’s tenure to the more specific questions of how much was borrowed, which projects received the funds, what was repaid before the 2014 handover, what liabilities remained, and which administrations subsequently serviced them.
Available reports on the dispute confirm that the state government has identified eight external loans and placed their combined outstanding balance at about N127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026. Obi, however, has maintained that he left office without the unpaid obligations being alleged and has demanded documentary proof.
The dispute over the ecological fund has also produced competing documentary claims. The Anambra Government says a certified bank statement does not support Obi’s description of the account, while Obi maintains that the money was deliberately preserved for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion project and left for his successor.
The controversy comes as Obi campaigns for the presidency ahead of the 2027 election, making the financial record of his eight years as Anambra governor a subject of renewed political scrutiny.
The figures released by the state government establish its position on the loans, but determining the precise responsibility for the liabilities requires examination of the original loan agreements, disbursement records, repayment schedules, audited accounts and the legal status of the state’s continuing debt obligations.
IBN News reports that the Anambra debt controversy remains a dispute between competing accounts of the state’s financial position at the 2014 handover, with the Soludo administration presenting loan and liability records while Peter Obi continues to reject the allegations and has challenged the government to substantiate its claims.
