Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, has challenged the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race after the Anambra State government disputed his claim that he left office in 2014 without outstanding debts.
Onanuga made the demand in a post on Wednesday, citing Obi’s earlier statement that he would stop campaigning if anyone established that he left unpaid obligations as governor.
“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.
“Now, the Anambra government has confronted him with facts and figures showing he owed Water Corporation workers, teachers, and pension and gratuities, and had also borrowed for frivolous things. The ball is back in his court. Will he follow through on his threat by quitting the race?” Onanuga tweeted.
The dispute began after Anambra Commissioner for Finance, Law Okafor, said the state was still servicing loans linked to previous administrations, including Obi’s tenure.
Obi responded on Tuesday in a post titled “Debunking the Phantom Debts and Ecological Loan Fallacy”.
He rejected claims that his administration left behind debts, including a N2bn ecological loan, contractor liabilities and unpaid salaries, gratuities and pensions.
“My attention has been drawn to trending claims by the Anambra State Government that my administration left behind inherited debts, including a ₦2 billion ecological loan, contractor liabilities, and unpaid salaries, gratuities, and pensions. This is completely false,” Obi wrote.
He said his administration cleared more than N35bn in historical gratuities and arrears and left office owing nothing in salaries, gratuities, pensions or certified contractor payments.
Obi said the N2bn ecological loan was released three months before the end of his tenure and left untouched in a First Bank account, No. 2018779464, with a balance of more than N2.13bn. He said the money was meant for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis and was left for his successor.
“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” Obi declared.
The Anambra State government responded on Wednesday in a statement titled “Facts Beyond Propaganda and Lies”, disputing Obi’s account of the state’s finances.
The government said eight external loans linked to projects under Obi’s tenure remained outstanding as of June 30, 2026, with a combined balance of N127.4bn, or $92.35m.
It said the loans covered projects in education, erosion control, health, agriculture and social development.
The state also disputed Obi’s claim concerning the N2.13bn ecological fund, saying the First Bank account he identified was not an ecological fund account and did not contain the amount he cited.
The Anambra government further disputed Obi’s claim that he cleared all inherited obligations was “patently false.” It cited unpaid salaries owed to former employees of the defunct Water Corporation and arrears involving primary school teachers.
The government said the teachers’ arrears originated under former governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju. It added that Obi’s administration verified 16 months of the arrears and agreed to pay them in tranches, but paid five months before leaving office.
Mefor said the current administration had cleared N22bn in inherited gratuity arrears since taking office and had begun paying the Water Corporation settlement in installments.
“So, Your Excellency, you owed salaries, pensions and gratuities. Many of these people are still alive and can testify,” said Mefor.
“But you obviously LIED: you owed many, not one, and those debts are yet to be fully cleared even today!”
Obi has yet to respond to the state statement or Onanuga’s post as of the time of filing this report.
