JUST IN: Anambra Govt Replies Obi, Releases Fresh Details on Liabilities

The Anambra State Government has responded to former Governor Peter Obi’s recent comments on the financial position of the state when he left office, insisting that his administration inherited and left behind significant liabilities, including loans, unpaid workers’ entitlements and pension arrears.

The state government made its position known in a statement issued on Saturday, September 26, 2026, by the Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor.

This follows Obi’s interview on Arise TV on September 24.

The government said Obi’s interview raised questions about loans allegedly obtained during his eight-year tenure, unpaid salaries and pensions, the handling of state funds and the contents of his handover documents.

According to the statement, the current administration had not previously made the issue a major public controversy despite having spent years servicing inherited obligations.

The government said it only responded after Obi challenged anyone to prove that he left behind any salary, pension, contractor or other debt when he left office.

The statement said, “This government has been in office for four and a half years and has never complained about any inherited debt, whether borrowings or salary arrears, and has been paying billions of Naira to service them.”

It added that the government considered the matter a question of public record after Obi made what it described as a challenge concerning the existence of liabilities inherited by subsequent administrations.

On the issue of loans, the Anambra Government alleged that Obi’s administration signed eight loans from the International Development Association (IDA) and World Bank during his tenure, with a combined value of $123,771,179.30.

It said the loans were contained in records available from the Debt Management Office and alleged that they were not disclosed in the handover documents presented by the former governor.

According to the government, the outstanding balance of the eight loans stood at $92.35 million as of June 30, 2026, which it valued at N127.37 billion.

The state said successive administrations, including the current government, have continued to service the obligations through deductions from the state’s monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee funds.

The government also rejected Obi’s argument that he did not personally go to the World Bank or the DMO to borrow the funds.

“Peter Obi, you do not have to ‘go to a bank or DMO’ before your borrowing can be perfected. All that is required is for you to sign the loan agreements and your government did,” the statement said.

It further argued that the existence of assets capable of covering liabilities does not eliminate the requirement to disclose the liabilities in a government’s financial records.

The government said the disagreement was not initially about whether the assets left by Obi were sufficient to offset the debts but about whether liabilities existed and should have been disclosed.

“The issue was never whether the assets you left behind were more than enough to repay the debt. That is what you are saying now. But your initial challenge was that you never left any debt,” it said.

The state government also accused Obi’s administration of leaving unpaid entitlements owed to workers of the Anambra State Water Corporation.

It said more than 700 workers were owed salaries, pensions and gratuities, citing a 2009 arbitration proceeding and a 2019 judgment of the National Industrial Court as confirmation that the state government was liable.

According to the statement, the present administration entered into an out-of-court settlement with the affected workers on February 26, 2024, for N1,563,143,020.13.

The government said it had so far paid N1,199,762,000, with the final tranche still outstanding.

“We are talking about hundreds of human beings with families. We understand that many of them have died due to frustration and penury. We are talking about over N1 billion already paid arrears owed and left by your government unpaid,” the statement said.

The government also raised the issue of pension arrears owed to primary school teachers.

It alleged that Obi inherited 16 months of certified pension arrears from the administration of former Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju, but only five months were paid during Obi’s tenure.

According to the state, the remaining 11 months have not been paid, although Obi’s administration directed shortly before leaving office that the arrears should be settled.

The government said it was currently re-verifying the outstanding claims and hoped to make payment.

Another major point raised by the state concerned Obi’s argument about savings allegedly accumulated by his administration.

The government said Obi had referred to about $150 million saved in banks and argued that the money could have generated interest that would have been sufficient to service the loans if it had remained untouched by his successor, Willie Obiano.

The Soludo administration disputed the argument, saying government funds should also be assessed in terms of their impact on infrastructure, security, healthcare, education and other areas of public welfare.

The statement said, “Government exists to improve the security and welfare of the people, and not to save money and earn interest.”

The government questioned the wisdom of keeping large amounts of public money in bank accounts while, according to its account, several communities lacked basic infrastructure and public services.

It cited claims that 78 of Anambra’s 179 communities had no public primary schools at the time, while several communities lacked functional primary healthcare facilities and accessible roads.

The government also referred to erosion, power, water supply and other infrastructure challenges that it said confronted the state during the period.

On the controversial funds, the government again accused Obi of failing to explain the whereabouts of N2.13 billion in Ecological Fund money.

It alleged that Obi had stated that the money was left in a particular account and bank but that the funds could not subsequently be traced there.

The government said the former governor had not adequately addressed the question and described his response as an attempt to divert attention from the issue.

It also questioned the authenticity and completeness of the handover documents presented by Obi during his Arise TV interview.

The government said it was in possession of the handover note and alleged that the document contained inconsistencies relating to the assets presented by the former governor while failing to adequately disclose liabilities.

It said a more detailed response to the handover document would be provided separately.

The state government also accused Obi of applying different standards when discussing the political activities of his successors and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

It referred to Obi’s support for candidates in previous elections and his opposition to the current administration’s political choices, including APGA’s decision to support President Bola Tinubu.

However, the central issue in the statement remained the financial liabilities the government said were inherited from Obi’s administration.

The government maintained that it had not initiated the dispute but was responding to the former governor’s challenge.

“As stated at the beginning, we did not ask for this: H.E. Peter Obi did,” the statement said.

The government therefore called on Obi to acknowledge what it described as the evidence of the liabilities and apologise to the people of Anambra State and Nigeria.

“For H.E. Peter Obi, it is a matter of word, character and integrity,” the statement said.