The Anambra State government on Wednesday disputed former governor Peter Obi’s assertion that he left more than ₦2.13 billion in an ecological fund account when he left office in 2014.
State Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation Law Mefor said the First Bank account identified by Obi was not an ecological fund account and had never held the sum claimed.
“We have obtained a certified printout of the account from inception to date. The account is an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account, not an ecological fund account,” Mefor said in a statement.
“From 2011 when the account was opened until date, there has never been any such amount—whether as inflow or balance—in the account.”
The commissioner challenged Obi to clarify where the ₦2.13 billion he claimed to have left for his successor was kept.
Obi had earlier rejected government claims that his administration bequeathed debts, including a ₦2 billion ecological loan, contractor liabilities and unpaid salaries, gratuities and pensions. He said his government liquidated historical gratuities and arrears exceeding ₦35 billion and left the state free of salary, gratuity, pension or certified contractor debts.
On the ecological funds, Obi stated that the money was released about three months before the end of his tenure for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis. Despite pressure to spend it, he said he left the full amount intact in First Bank because “government is a continuum.”
Mefor also addressed broader debt questions, stating that eight external loans remained after Obi left office on March 17, 2014. As of June 30, 2026, their total balance stood at ₦127.4 billion at the official exchange rate.
He further rejected Obi’s claim of leaving more than ₦75 billion in savings, asking: “If there were ₦75 billion in savings, as claimed, where are the records?”
