Mr. Peter Obi
Former Anambra State Governor and Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has rejected claims that his administration left behind unpaid debts and loans that the state is still servicing.
Obi, who governed the state from 2006 to 2014, said he cleared all properly processed financial obligations before leaving office, including salaries, pensions, gratuities, and payments to suppliers and contractors. He clarified in a video from the Voice of Ndi Anambra Podcast circulated on Monday.
His response followed comments by Anambra State Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, who said the state was still repaying loans obtained during the administrations of Obi and his successor, Willie Obiano. Obi insisted that he did not leave behind any unpaid obligations that were due and properly processed.
“As of the day I left office, I was not owing any salary, pension, or gratuity that the Anambra State Government was supposed to pay,” Obi said.
“I was not owing any supplier or contractor that had executed his job and whose documents had been processed, not one. The day I left office, I paid what was due to be paid. I wasn’t owing any contractor.”
Obi also addressed an ecological fund of about N2.1 billion, which he said was in a state government account when he left office. According to him, the Federal Government released the money about three months before the end of his administration for a specific erosion-control project.
“The day I left office, I had an account with First Bank of Nigeria, a branch in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, an ecological fund account with a balance of about N2.1 billion,” he said.
He explained that the money was not available for general government spending because it had been earmarked for the erosion-control project. Obi said some members of his administration wanted the money spent before he left office, but he refused because he believed one government should properly hand over to the next.
“My people were saying, ‘Let’s expend this money.’ But I kept telling them, government is a continuity, and I want the person coming after me to succeed,” Obi said.
He challenged anyone who doubted his account to check the bank records. Obi also commented on the decision by some governors, including Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo, to support President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 election.
He said the governors had the right to support any candidate they preferred. The NDC presidential candidate said he was not asking the governors to support him, but only wanted them to ensure that the 2027 election was free, fair, and credible.
Obi said the final decision should be left to the voters, recalling that he contested the 2023 presidential election without having councillors or other elected officials in government.
