*As Anambra Govt says NDC flag-bearer left 8 external loans, no record of N2.1bn ecological fund

The Anambra State Government has escalated its dispute with former governor Peter Obi over the state’s financial inheritance.

It put the balance of eight external loans it says were contracted under his administration at N127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026.

The government also disputed Obi’s claim that he left about N2.1 billion in an ecological fund account for his successor.

It said it could not find records showing that the state received such money during his eight years in office.

This is just as the Presidency also put the former Anambra State Governor’s 2027 presidential bid at the centre of the controversy over the finances he left behind when he handed over power in 2014, challenging him to honour his pledge to stop campaigning if his claims of leaving the state debt-free are disproved.

The latest claims by the Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo-led Anambra State government were contained in a statement on Wednesday by the Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Dr. Law Mefor.

Soludo, though the national leader of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), is supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election and is one of the president’s surrogates in the electioneering campaigns.

Mefor said the external loans attributed to the Obi administration were obtained for projects covering malaria control, education, healthcare, erosion management, community development and value-chain development.

According to him, the loans were among eight separate external borrowings that remained outstanding when Obi handed over power to Willie Obiano on March 17, 2014.

“As at the date HE Peter Obi left office (17th March 2014), there were and still are 8 different external borrowings his administration left for his successors,” Mefor said.

He said the balance on the facilities stood at N127.4 billion at the official exchange rate as of June 30, 2026, adding that the state had continued to make debt-service payments on the obligations.

Mefor also put the total value of expenditure attributed to Obi’s eight-year administration at about $4.05 billion.

He said the figure was derived by converting audited and published expenditures using the average official exchange rates applicable during the period.

The Commissioner stressed that the state was not arguing that borrowing was inherently wrong, but questioned the scale and outcomes of the loans allegedly inherited from Obi.

“Let’s be clear: hardly any government in the world has zero debt stock. The issue is not whether or not borrowing is good: no business or government can scale significantly without some debt,” he said.

Mefor said the government would have had no objection to borrowing for productive investments, including schools, hospitals, water projects and infrastructure, if the facilities were properly utilised.

He, however, alleged that several basic services remained deficient at the end of Obi’s tenure, including public water schemes, schools and hospitals.

He also accused the former administration of leaving unresolved challenges in insecurity and poverty.

“We are convinced that many Ndi Anambra would not have minded if HE Peter Obi had borrowed to fix public schools and hospitals, water schemes, infrastructure, or even to reduce poverty and insecurity; debt, especially for bankable projects and human capital development, is justifiable,” Mefor said.

The reaction represents a fresh escalation of a dispute that dates back to the 2014 transfer of power from Obi to Obiano.

In 2015, the Obiano administration said it inherited project liabilities worth about N185.1 billion from Obi’s government.

It said Obi’s administration had paid N78.9 billion on the projects before leaving office, leaving a balance of about N106.2 billion at handover.

The figures were disputed by Obi’s representatives, who maintained that the former Governor did not leave unpaid contractors.

The same dispute involved claims about the assets transferred to Obiano.

The Obiano administration said it inherited about N9 billion in cash and N26 billion in near-cash assets, while Obi’s camp maintained that substantially more had been left in cash and investments.

The Debt Management Office reported that Anambra had external debt of $30.32 million as of December 31, 2013, less than three months before Obi left office, alongside domestic debt of about N3.03 billion.

That DMO figure, however, predates the current government’s calculation of $123.77 million in external borrowings and does not by itself establish the amount now being claimed by the Anambra government.

The present dispute was triggered earlier this week when Finance Commissioner Izuchukwu Okafor said deductions were still being made from the state’s Federation Account allocation to service loans obtained by previous administrations, including those of Obi and Obiano.

Obi subsequently rejected the claim, saying he left office without unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities or processed obligations to contractors.

The former Governor also said about N2.1 billion in ecological funds was sitting in a First Bank account at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University branch when he handed over to Obiano.

He said the money had been released by the Federal Government for a specific erosion-control project and was deliberately left untouched to allow his successor to continue the work.

Mefor has challenged that account, saying the state government found no records showing that such an ecological fund was received during Obi’s tenure.

The dispute over Obi’s financial record has persisted despite the passage of more than a decade since he left office.

The renewed exchange also comes as Obi, now the Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), campaigns ahead of the 2027 presidential election.