The Presidency has challenged former Anambra State Governor and Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi to honour his earlier pledge to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race if claims about his financial record in the state are proven.
Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the challenge in a post on X on Wednesday, following fresh claims by the Anambra State Government that Obi’s administration left behind outstanding loans and other financial liabilities.
Onanuga said Obi had maintained that he left Anambra without outstanding debt but was now being confronted by the state government with details concerning loans, unpaid obligations involving Water Corporation workers, teachers, pensions and gratuities.
“Peter Obi claimed he left Anambra with a clean slate of debt and even threatened to quit the presidential race if his claims were proven otherwise.”
He added that the Anambra government had presented what it described as facts and figures concerning liabilities allegedly left behind by Obi’s administration.
“Now, the Anambra government has confronted him with facts and figures showing he owed Water Corporation workers, teachers, and pension and gratuities, and had also borrowed for frivolous things.”
Onanuga then questioned whether Obi would keep his earlier pledge to withdraw from the presidential contest.
“The ball is back in his court. Will he follow through on his threat by quitting the race?”
The controversy followed a fresh statement by the Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, disputing Obi’s account of the financial situation he left behind when he handed over power in 2014.
According to the state government, eight external loans connected to projects implemented during Obi’s administration remained outstanding. The government said the loans had an outstanding balance of $92.35 million, equivalent to about ₦127.37 billion as of June 30, 2026.
The loans were linked to projects covering areas including malaria control, erosion management, healthcare, education, community development and agricultural value-chain development. The state said the original borrowings amounted to about $123.7 million, with part of the debt subsequently repaid.
Mefor also disputed claims concerning salary, pension and gratuity arrears. He said the state inherited outstanding obligations involving retired workers, teachers and employees of the defunct Water Corporation.
The commissioner further said the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo had cleared about ₦22 billion in gratuity arrears inherited from previous administrations, while maintaining that some liabilities from earlier governments remained outstanding.
Obi, however, has rejected the allegations. He previously said his administration cleared more than ₦35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears and left office without outstanding salary, pension or gratuity obligations.
He also disputed the state government’s account of an ecological fund, saying more than ₦2.13 billion remained untouched in a First Bank account earmarked for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis. The state government has disputed that claim, saying the account referenced was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account rather than an ecological fund account.
Obi had challenged anyone who could establish that his account of Anambra’s finances was incorrect, saying:
“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning.”
The dispute has now escalated into a political challenge from the Presidency, with the competing claims over Anambra’s financial position becoming part of the wider political debate ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
