A fresh political dispute has erupted over the financial record of Anambra State, with the Presidency challenging former governor Peter Obi to honour his pledge to quit the 2027 presidential race if claims that he left behind outstanding liabilities are proven.
The challenge came from the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, following renewed allegations by the Anambra State Government over debts and other financial obligations allegedly linked to previous administrations.
In a post on X, Onanuga recalled Obi’s earlier statement that he would end his presidential campaign if evidence emerged that his administration left unpaid obligations.
Onanuga said the state government had now presented what it described as financial records pointing to outstanding liabilities involving pensioners, teachers, Water Corporation workers and beneficiaries of gratuities.
The Presidency also questioned the circumstances surrounding loans associated with projects implemented during or inherited from previous administrations, including programmes covering healthcare, education, erosion control, agriculture and community development.
The Anambra State Government says eight external loan facilities had a combined outstanding balance of about 92.35 million dollars, equivalent to roughly 127.4 billion naira, as of June 30, 2026.
The government has also disputed Obi’s claim that he left office without unpaid salary, pension or gratuity obligations.
But Obi has rejected the allegations, insisting that his administration cleared more than 35 billion naira in historical gratuity and pension arrears and left office without outstanding salaries, pensions, gratuities or certified payments owed to contractors.
He has also disputed the state government’s position on a 2-billion-naira ecological fund, saying the money was released shortly before he left office for the Oko-Umuchiana erosion crisis and was deliberately preserved for that purpose.
Obi has challenged the Anambra Government to produce evidence contradicting his account, saying he would stop campaigning for the presidency if it could establish that he left behind the obligations he has denied.
The latest exchange has therefore shifted the long-running debate over Anambra’s inherited liabilities into a direct political challenge, with both sides presenting sharply different accounts of the state’s financial position at the end of Obi’s tenure.
