Leadership: Anambra affirms Peter Obi left N127.4bn loan balance, other liabilities as governor 

*Dr. Law Mefor, Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, in Anambra State of Nigeria, discloses the latest report of the Debt Management Office indicates the total balance of loans attributed to ex-Governor Peter Obi’s administration stood at N127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

The Anambra State Government of Nigeria has said former Governor Peter Obi left behind an outstanding loan balance of ₦127.4 billion alongside other financial liabilities as of June 30, 2026.

The statement government’s disclosure, however, contradicts Mr. Obi’s recent pronouncements, maintaining that his fiscal record was devoid of indebtedness, loans and other liabilities while in office.

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Earlier, Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2027 Elections, had asserted that his administration left office March 2014 “without unpaid salaries, pensions, or debts.”

The Anambra Government, however, disputed his claims, stating that Obi’s administration, in Anambra State, left outstanding loans as well as arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuities inherited by subsequent administrations, including Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo’s.

Facts of Obi’s fiscal records in Anambra, by Information Commissioner

Putting the records straight, Dr. Law Mefor, Honourable Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, in Anambra State, disclosed the administration of Governor Soludo had cleared about N22 billion of the inherited gratuity arrears owed to retired state and local government employees and teachers.

Dr. Mefor said the government would not join the debate over which administrations in the South-Eastern state paid particular arrears.

The Commissioner in a statement, however, maintained that some “legacy liabilities”  dating back to previous administrations remained outstanding till this day.

He also noted salary arrears owed to workers of the defunct Water Corporation, which he said persisted throughout Obi’s tenure as governor of the state.

Mefor further said there were outstanding salary, pension and gratuity arrears owed to primary school teachers under the local government system, dating back to the administration of even late Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju.

He also disclosed that the current Anambra State administration recently informed recently, that Obi administration had verified and certified 16 months of salary arrears and agreed to pay them in tranches.

The statement noted: “We have been informed that the government of HE Peter Obi verified and certified the debt of 16 months of salary arrears and agreed to pay in tranches.

“It only paid five months and no more until today.

“This (Soludo’s) administration has set up a committee headed by the Head of Service to finalise a new verification for us to pay.”

DMO confirms Obi administration’s N127.4bn loan balance

Referencing the latest report of the Nigeria Debt Management Office (DMO), in Abuja, the Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation said the total balance of loans attributed to the Obi administration stood at N127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026, based on the official Foreign Exchange (Forex) rate.

He explained: “Evidently, HE Peter Obi borrowed for malaria, erosion control, education, healthcare, etc. “So far, this government pays hundreds of millions of Naira every month to service these debts and we are not complaining.”

Mefor said: “It is good for Anambra, once we can show the impacts.

“Let’s be clear: hardly any government in the world has zero debt stock.

“The issue is not whether or not borrowing is good: no business or government can scale significantly without some debt.”

The government declared: “We are convinced that many Ndi Anambra would not have minded, if HE Peter Obi had borrowed to fix public schools and hospitals, water schemes, infrastructure, or even to reduce poverty and insecurity.

“Debt, especially for bankable projects and human capital development, is justifiable.

“So, HE Peter Obi should stop being irked as if all debt is bad.”