The Anambra Government said it is not aware of the actual amount drawn down by the Peter Obi administration from the $123.77m external debt the state is currently servicing, and promised to verify and reconcile the figures.
The Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, revealed this while speaking on the Arise News Morning Show, on Thursday.
Mefor was queried on the precise funds disbursed to the Obi administration, which ended in March 2014, following the contracting of eight external financing facilities from the World Bank/International Fund for Agricultural Development, in which the federal government was the actual borrower.
The question followed an ongoing dispute over the inherited debt schedule, with a combined original value of $123.77m and an outstanding balance of $92.35m as of June 30, 2026 (N127.37bn).
Responding, Mefor acknowledged that although it was logical to differentiate the nuances in drawdowns between Obi and his successors, the former should be blamed for not rejecting the loans like some of his counterparts, subjecting subsequent governments to servicing the debt.
He said, “One can look at it from that perspective, but I do not have those figures. To be honest, we need to further reconcile these figures with the DMO (Debt Management Office) because the disparity needs to be reconciled before I can accept either to say yes or no.”
The assertion of a “yes or no” by Mefor followed a request for clarification from the journalists, asking if the DMO’s annual report, where Anambra’s actual active external debt stock was $30.32m as of December 31, 2013, and $41.45m as of June 30, 2014 — less than three months before and three months after he left office — was inescapable.
“But I understand the logic. If his administration did not draw down the entire amount, we should attribute liability to him only to the extent it was drawn down during his administration. That is logical.
“However, I must add, he committed Anambra State to that loan liability to the amount that we mentioned. It is not wrong. So it is okay. There would be further reconciliation of accounts until we can be sure of where things really stand. He took eight loans and they are not fully repaid. The governor is making efforts to clear off all these loans,” Mefor added.
The commissioner further maintained that a current debt to the state remains a loan regardless of the nuances. He said the concessional or subsidiary arrangements do not exempt the current administration from paying it back.
“To wish away $123m as a non-issue and not recognising that such amount accrued against the financial status of Anambra is not quite right.
“The point I am trying to make is simple. He took loans and he said he didn’t take. And also, he said he didn’t pass down any financial liability that accrued from loans that he took. That is also not correct,” Mefor added.
He further dismissed suppositions that the intent of unravelling the loans contracted by the Obi administration at this period was political and targeted at his campaign ahead of the January 2027 presidential election.
“If I need to drill it down further, let me draw your attention to something. You said, could this be politics? Why should this be politics? The APGA government in Anambra is working with the centre, and therefore working with President Bola Tinubu.
“This was a policy that was introduced during the Peter Obi administration. That was why he worked with President Jonathan even though Jonathan was of the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) and he himself was of APGA (All Progressives Grand Alliance).
“That was why Willie Obiano, as governor, worked with President Muhammadu Buhari and Soludo, following the same policy, working with Bola Tinubu. So it is not strange.
“Also, we are yet to announce our presidential campaign plans and programmes and this has had nothing to do with politics. And this has not been the first time Obi is contesting for the presidency of Nigeria. He did in 2023. These issues were there, but we didn’t want to make things out of depth until he himself threw the challenge.”
Obi had challenged the Anambra State Government to provide evidence of debt accrued by his administration for the subsequent governments, or unpaid debt to contractors who had documented and completed their services to the state, pledging to quit his political campaign if any was proven.
Since the feedback from the Anambra Government, the Nigerian Presidency has mounted pressure for his exit from the race, while proponents of the Obi camp have questioned the accuracy and clauses of the said debt attributed to Obi, among others.
