I LEFT ANAMBRA DEBT-FREE, OBI INSISTS

The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, has insisted that he did not borrow money or issue bonds on behalf of Anambra State during his eight years as governor.

Obi made the claim on Arise TV’s Prime Time programme on Thursday while responding to allegations by the Anambra State Government that his administration left outstanding loans and other liabilities for subsequent governments to service.

The former governor said he left office in March 2014 without owing salaries, gratuities or pensions due from the state government, adding that contractors and suppliers whose jobs had been executed, certified and verified were also not owed.

Obi maintained that he never approached any financial institution to obtain a loan or issue bonds for the state during his tenure.

He said some of the funding being attributed to his administration came through Federal Government-supported programmes and should not be treated as commercial borrowing undertaken by his government.

According to Obi, Anambra, Ekiti and Bauchi were selected by the Federal Government to receive concessionary multilateral support because of their performance in education.

He said the support involved the World Bank and was not obtained by Anambra through a commercial bank. He also argued that the drawdown under the State Education Programme Investment Project occurred after he had left office.

Obi said that even if the entire amount associated with the programme had been drawn down, there would have been sufficient funds to cover it and leave the state in a strong financial position.

He further argued that undrawn funds under a loan facility should not be classified as debt incurred by a government.

To support his position, Obi referred to former Debt Management Office Director-General Abraham Nwankwo, who he said publicly stated at his send-off ceremony that Obi was the only governor who never visited the DMO office to seek approval to borrow money.

The former governor’s comments come amid an ongoing dispute with the Anambra State Government over the state’s financial position when he left office.

The state government has alleged that eight external borrowings contracted during Obi’s tenure left an outstanding balance of about N127.4bn as of June 30, 2026. It said the loans, originally amounting to about $123.77m, were tied to projects including malaria control, education, healthcare and erosion management.

The government has also alleged that some salary, pension and gratuity liabilities remained after Obi left office and disputed his claim concerning funds said to have been held in an ecological fund account.

Obi has rejected those claims and previously challenged the state government to establish that he left Anambra with debt, saying he would stop his 2027 presidential campaign if such a claim was proven.

The controversy has also drawn political reactions, with the Obi-backed OK Movement and the NDC criticising Governor Chukwuma Soludo over his comments on the former governor.

The OK Movement said Soludo should focus on governing Anambra, while the NDC described the dispute as a political distraction. These comments are positions expressed by the respective political groups and are part of the broader dispute surrounding Obi’s record in office.

The disagreement over Anambra’s debt position remains unresolved, with Obi maintaining that he left the state without the liabilities alleged by the current administration, while the state government has cited loan records it says were contracted during his tenure.