Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi on Monday rejected claims that his administration left outstanding loans still being repaid by the state, insisting he settled all due obligations before handing over power in 2014.
Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, responded in a viral video from the Voice of Ndi Anambra Podcast after the state Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, said deductions continued from Anambra’s federal allocation to service loans from previous governments, including those of Obi and Willie Obiano.
The former governor said his administration left no unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities or completed contracts whose documents had been processed.
“As at the day I left office, I was not owing any salary, pension, or gratuity that Anambra state government is supposed to pay,” Obi said. “I was not owing any supplier or contractor that had executed his job and his documents processed, not one. The day I left office; I paid what was due to be paid. I wasn’t owing any contractors.”
Obi also challenged the state government over an ecological fund of about ₦2.1 billion that he said remained in a First Bank account when he left office. The money, received from the federal government about three months earlier, was earmarked for a specific erosion-control project.
“The day I left office, I had an account in the First Bank of Nigeria, a branch in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, an ecological fund account with a balance of about N2.1 billion,” he said. “I had it in the bank. And it is not included in the money I left, reason being that it was dedicated specifically for a particular erosion project that was supposed to be ongoing.”
He added that he refused suggestions from members of his team to spend the fund before departure in order to ensure a smooth transition, and challenged anyone disputing the balance to produce contrary evidence.
“I say it again, if you go to the account, I’m going to give you the account number. I have given you the bank and the branch. If you see anything contrary to the day I left office, I will stop campaigning,” Obi stated.
Turning to the 2027 elections, Obi said governors including Chukwuma Soludo were free to support any presidential candidate, but insisted the outcome must be decided by voters in a free, fair and credible poll.
“But it is the people of Nigeria that will decide, not the governors, unless they’re going to write the results or rig the election, which is what I’m preaching against,” he said. “Let it be a free, fair and credible election. Whatever the people decide, I will respect it.”
