Anambra debt controversy deepens as government publishes loan records while critics accuse Soludo of turning the dispute into politics
AWKA — Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has come under criticism on social media after the state government released records it said showed outstanding loans linked to projects undertaken during the administration of former Governor Peter Obi.
The development has further intensified the growing dispute between Soludo and Obi over the financial position of Anambra State when the former governor left office in March 2014.
The Anambra State Government, through the Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Dr Law Mefor, said on Wednesday that eight external loans associated with Obi’s administration had an outstanding balance of about $92.35 million, equivalent to approximately N127.37 billion as of June 30, 2026.
The government said the original value of the eight loans was about $123.77 million and that the loans were connected to projects covering healthcare, education, erosion control, agriculture, malaria control and community development.
The records were released after Obi challenged the state government to provide evidence that his administration left debts or other unpaid obligations when he handed over power to his successor, Willie Obiano, in 2014.
Obi has maintained that he left office without outstanding salaries, pensions, gratuities or debts owed to contractors for completed and certified projects. He also challenged the Anambra government to establish otherwise, saying he would stop campaigning for the 2027 presidential election if it could prove that he left such obligations.
The latest figures released by the state government have therefore become the centre of a fresh political and financial dispute.
According to reports based on the government’s records, the outstanding loans include the State Education Programme Investment Project, Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project, Third National Fadama Development Project, Community and Social Development Project, Malaria Control Booster Project, Value Chain Development Project and Health System Development Project II.
The state government has argued that the existence of outstanding loan balances does not necessarily mean that funds were misused, noting that some of the loans were obtained to finance development projects.
The government has, however, maintained that the financial obligations continued to be serviced by subsequent administrations after Obi left office.
The dispute also extends beyond the loan figures.
Anambra officials have challenged Obi’s claim that more than N2.13 billion released for an ecological project was left in a First Bank account for the incoming administration.
Mefor said the state government obtained a certified statement of the account identified by Obi and alleged that it was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account rather than an ecological fund account. The government further said the records did not show the N2.13 billion balance described by Obi.
Obi has disputed the government’s account and maintained his position regarding the funds.
The controversy has generated strong reactions online, with some social-media users accusing Soludo of using the debt issue to attack his predecessor and political rival.
Some critics questioned why the state government was focusing on Obi’s past administration rather than concentrating on the performance of the current government. Others argued that the figures released by the government should be subjected to independent examination rather than being treated as proof of wrongdoing.
One X user described Soludo as an “educated illiterate” and alleged that his criticism of Obi was politically motivated. Another accused the governor of engaging in what the user described as “bitterness” against his predecessor.
Other commenters focused on the figures themselves, questioning the conversion of dollar-denominated loans into naira and whether the liabilities should be attributed personally to Obi or to the Anambra State Government as a continuing legal borrower.
Some supporters of the former governor also argued that loans used to finance public projects should be assessed alongside the projects they funded, rather than being presented simply as evidence of financial failure.
There were, however, also social-media reactions supporting the disclosure of the records, with some users arguing that the documents released by the state government should be answered with documentary evidence if they are inaccurate.
The dispute comes at a politically sensitive period as Obi prepares for the 2027 presidential election under the Nigeria Democratic Congress.
The Presidency has also weighed into the controversy, with Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, challenging Obi over his earlier pledge to stop campaigning if it was established that he left debts behind in Anambra.
Obi’s position remains that he left Anambra without outstanding obligations of the nature alleged by the state government, while the Soludo administration insists that the loan records show otherwise.
The central question in the dispute is therefore whether the existence of outstanding loan balances as of 2026 establishes that Obi personally left Anambra with unpaid debt at the point he left office in 2014, or whether the loans were continuing state obligations contracted for projects during his administration and subsequently serviced by later governments.
That distinction is important because the release of loan balances does not, by itself, establish personal wrongdoing by a former governor. Determining responsibility would require examination of the original loan agreements, approval dates, disbursement records, repayment schedules, audited accounts and the legal obligations of the Anambra State Government.
The controversy is also likely to continue as both sides defend their respective accounts of the state’s finances and the management of public resources under successive administrations.
IBN News reports that the Anambra debt dispute remains unresolved, with the state government presenting loan and financial records as evidence of outstanding obligations, while Peter Obi continues to dispute the allegations and has challenged the government to substantiate its claims with verifiable evidence.
