Presidency to Obi: Prove Anambra Debt Claims Wrong or Quit 2027 Race
The Presidency has challenged the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, to honour his pledge to stop campaigning for the 2027 presidential election if claims that his administration left financial liabilities in Anambra State are established.
Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, issued the challenge on Wednesday while reacting to the growing dispute between Obi and the Anambra State Government over the state’s financial obligations.
Onanuga recalled that Obi had maintained that he left Anambra without outstanding debts and had pledged to end his presidential campaign if anyone could prove otherwise.
“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,” Onanuga said in a post on X.
He added that the Anambra State Government had now presented what it described as facts and figures concerning liabilities allegedly linked to Obi’s tenure, including obligations involving Water Corporation workers, teachers, pensions and gratuities.
“The ball is back in his court. Will he follow through on his threat by quitting the race?” Onanuga asked.
The controversy followed claims by Anambra State officials that the government was still servicing loans inherited from previous administrations, including Obi’s tenure from 2006 to 2014.
According to the state’s Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, records released by the government showed eight external loans obtained between 2007 and 2013, totalling $123.7 million, with an outstanding balance of $92.35 million, equivalent to about ₦127.37 billion as of June 2026.
The state government also disputed Obi’s account of an alleged ₦2 billion ecological fund. Mefor said the First Bank account cited by the former governor was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account and claimed certified records did not show the amount Obi said was left in the account.
Obi, however, has rejected the allegations, insisting that his administration cleared more than ₦35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears and handed over the state without outstanding salaries, pensions, gratuities or obligations to contractors for completed and certified projects.
He also maintained that more than ₦2.13 billion was left untouched in a First Bank account for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion project and challenged anyone to establish that his account of the state’s finances was incorrect.
“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” Obi said.
The competing claims have now become part of the political debate ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with the Presidency urging Obi to honour his stated pledge if the allegations against his former administration are established.
