Obi’s Camp Debunk Soludo Government’s Claims on Anambra’s ₦127.37 Billion Debt Profile

The camp of former Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi has rejected the debt claims made by the Chukwuma Soludo administration, disputing the government’s assertion that Obi left behind external loans now worth $92.35 million, or about ₦127.37 billion.

The latest development follows the release of loan records by the Anambra State Government on Wednesday, September 16, in which Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Dr. Law Mefor, said the state was still servicing eight external loans associated with projects undertaken during Obi’s administration.

According to the state government, the eight facilities had a combined contracted value of $123.77 million between 2007 and 2013, with $92.35 million still outstanding as of June 30, 2026.

Mefor said the government released the records in response to Obi’s earlier denial that he left Anambra with outstanding debts.

The commissioner described Obi’s claim that he left office without debt as “wild, and verifiably false,” according to reports.

But Obi’s camp has now come out with its own records, discrediting the government’s presentation, arguing that the facilities being cited as loans taken by the former governor were federally arranged World Bank-supported programmes implemented by participating states.

The camp maintains that Obi did not personally contract the facilities and that the state government’s presentation fails to distinguish between federal financing arrangements, project implementation, loan approvals and actual disbursements.

Among the facilities cited in the dispute are the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) and the Value Chain Development Project (VCDP). Obi’s camp argues that these were federal programmes negotiated with development partners and subsequently implemented at the state level.

It also disputes the use of the combined $123.77 million figure as a representation of Obi’s debt legacy, saying the original value of a facility should not automatically be treated as the amount owed by the state at the time he left office.

The camp has also drawn attention to the timing of disbursements, particularly under the VCDP. According to the position advanced by Obi’s supporters, the programme recorded its first disbursement in September 2014, months after Obi left office in March 2014.

The camp of the presidential candidate of Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC argues that the timing is relevant to the question of which administration received and utilized the funds.

The former governor has also maintained that he did not leave unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities or obligations to contractors when he handed over power.

In a statement reported by Premium Times, Obi said: “As at the day I left office, I was not owing any salary, pension, or gratuity that Anambra state government is supposed to pay.”

He also said he was not owing suppliers or contractors whose work had been completed and whose documentation had been processed.

Obi subsequently released his handover document in response to the government’s allegations.

Reports on the document said it contained a financial statement of the Anambra State Government at the close of Obi’s tenure, with his camp using it to support its position on the state’s financial position when he left office.

The former governor has also said he left more than ₦75 billion in the state’s account, alongside other funds, and challenged the government to produce evidence to support its claims about liabilities inherited from his administration.

The Soludo administration, however, has maintained that the loan records contradict Obi’s position.

According to the state government, the loans were used for projects covering areas including agriculture, healthcare, education, malaria control, community development and erosion management. It said the outstanding balance on the facilities stood at $92.35 million as of June 30, 2026.

The government has also maintained that the issue is not whether borrowing is inherently wrong, but whether the funds were used for productive projects.

Mefor was quoted as saying: “Hardly any government in the world has zero debt stock.” He argued that governments could borrow for bankable projects and human-capital development while questioning the impact of the facilities attributed to Obi’s administration.

Obi’s camp, however, insists that the central issue is the proper attribution of the facilities and whether they should be described as loans personally contracted by the former governor.

The dispute has also extended to an alleged ₦2.13 billion ecological fund which Obi said was available when he left office.

The Soludo administration has disputed the claim, saying the government could not establish the existence of the fund in the account cited by Obi.

The debt controversy follows earlier comments by Anambra Commissioner for Finance Izuchukwu Okafor, who said the Soludo administration was still servicing loans inherited from previous administrations, including Obi’s.

Obi subsequently rejected the claim that he left the state with outstanding debt, prompting the Soludo administration to release what it described as supporting loan records.

The two sides now remain divided over the interpretation of the state’s financial position at the end of Obi’s tenure, with the Anambra government maintaining that outstanding obligations from the period remain on the state’s books and Obi’s camp disputing the characterization of those facilities as loans personally contracted by him.

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