The Anambra State Government has responded to former Governor Peter Obi’s recent denial of claims that his administration left behind outstanding debts and other financial liabilities, insisting that available records contradict some of his assertions.

The state Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Law Mefor, made the government’s position known in a statement dated September 16, 2026, titled “Gov Peter Obi and Record of Public Debt in Anambra: Facts Beyond Propaganda and Lies.” The statement followed Obi’s response to earlier claims concerning debts, unpaid obligations and an alleged ecological fund balance.

According to Mefor, the state government decided to respond because the issues involved public finances and debts that, according to the government, have continued to require servicing by successive administrations.

Government puts outstanding external loans at ₦127.4bn

The Anambra Government said Obi’s administration left behind eight external loans which remained outstanding as of June 30, 2026.

Mefor said the loans, which were contracted for projects including malaria control, education, healthcare, erosion management, community development and agricultural development, had a combined original value of $123.77 million, with $92.35 million still outstanding as of June 30, 2026.

Using the official exchange rate applicable at the time, the government put the outstanding balance at approximately ₦127.37 billion.

The eight facilities listed by the government are:

S/N Loan Date Signed Outstanding as at June 30, 2026

1 Malaria Control Booster Project May 21, 2007 ₦6.18bn
2 Third National Fadama Development Project Aug. 4, 2009 ₦6.03bn
3 Health System Development Project II (Additional Financing) Aug. 18, 2009 ₦2.82bn
4 Malaria Control Booster Project (Additional Financing) Dec. 30, 2009 ₦4.37bn
5 State Education Programme Investment Project July 30, 2013 ₦51.50bn
6 Community and Social Development Project Mar. 30, 2009 ₦5.11bn
7 Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project July 30, 2013 ₦48.08bn
8 Value Chain Development Project July 30, 2013 ₦3.28bn
Total ₦127.37bn

The government said it was not arguing that borrowing was inherently wrong, noting that governments commonly borrow to finance development projects. It said the issue was the record of liabilities inherited by subsequent administrations and the continued servicing of the loans.

The figures and loan descriptions in the government’s statement were also reported by Punch in its coverage of the dispute.

Govt disputes Obi’s claim on unpaid salaries and gratuities

The state government also rejected Obi’s assertion that his administration left office without outstanding salary, pension or gratuity obligations.

According to Mefor, the present administration has paid approximately ₦22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears owed to retired state and local government employees and teachers.

He further alleged that some legacy liabilities dating back to the Obi administration remained unresolved.

One of the cases cited was the former Anambra State Water Corporation, where the commissioner said salary arrears had persisted through Obi’s tenure and eventually resulted in court proceedings.

Mefor said the current administration had negotiated a settlement and had already paid the first two instalments of an agreed three-part payment arrangement.

The commissioner also raised the issue of salary arrears involving primary school teachers under the local government system. He alleged that Obi’s administration had verified and certified 16 months of salary arrears but paid only five months.

The state government, he said, had constituted a committee headed by the Head of Service to conduct a fresh verification before settling the outstanding obligations.

Dispute over ₦2.13bn ecological fund

The most direct point of disagreement between the two sides concerns an alleged ₦2.13 billion balance which Obi said he left in a First Bank account at the end of his tenure.

In his September 15 response, Obi said the money was an ecological fund released shortly before the end of his administration for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis. He said he deliberately left the money untouched for his successor because it was earmarked for a specific project.

Obi identified the account as First Bank Account No. 2018779464, UNIZIK Branch, Awka, and said it contained more than ₦2.13 billion when he left office. He also maintained that the money was separate from the more than ₦75 billion in savings he said his administration left behind.

Mefor, however, disputed the description of the account.

According to the commissioner, the state government obtained a certified printout of the account from its inception to date. He said the account was an Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) Consolidated Revenue Account, rather than an ecological fund account.

He further claimed that the records showed no transaction or balance corresponding to the amount Obi cited from the time the account was opened in 2011.

The commissioner therefore challenged the former governor to explain where the alleged ₦2.13 billion was kept if it did not enter the account identified by Obi.

The dispute over the account has now become a central part of the broader disagreement between Obi and the Anambra Government over the state’s financial position at the end of his tenure.

Obi had rejected the debt allegations

Obi had earlier described the allegations against his administration as false.

The former governor said his administration systematically cleared historical gratuities and arrears amounting to more than ₦35 billion and maintained that, at the point he left office, Anambra owed no salaries, pensions or gratuities and had no outstanding obligations to contractors for duly executed and certified projects.

On the ecological fund, Obi maintained that the money had been left intact in the First Bank account specifically for the erosion project.

He challenged anyone to prove otherwise and said he would stop campaigning if it could be established that his account of the matter was false.

Govt also questions reported ₦75bn savings

The Anambra Government also questioned Obi’s claim that his administration left more than ₦75 billion in savings or investments.

Mefor said the state government did not intend to engage in what he described as “creative accounting” and argued that records should be produced to substantiate the claimed savings.

The commissioner said the government’s response was intended to place its position and the figures it relied upon before the public.

The controversy comes as Obi remains a prominent political figure ahead of the 2027 presidential election, making the dispute over his record in Anambra increasingly relevant to public debate. Obi served as governor of Anambra from 2006 until March 2014.

The claims by the Anambra State Government and Peter Obi remain disputed, with both sides presenting different accounts of the state’s financial position at the time of the 2014 handover.