By: Odeh Favour Adiya
Former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, has refuted claims by the state government that the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo is still servicing loans incurred during his tenure, insisting that he left no outstanding debt when he vacated office.
Obi, who spoke in a viral video that circulated on Monday, was reacting to statements made by the Anambra State Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, during a recent Ndi Anambra podcast.
Okafor had stated that monthly federal allocations to the state were still being deducted to service debts incurred by previous administrations, explicitly naming the tenures of Obi and his successor, Willie Obiano.
Faulting the commissioner’s claims, Obi maintained that his administration never owed salaries, pensions, or contractors, and challenged anyone with contrary evidence to produce it.
“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.
He added, “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.”
Addressing questions regarding state funds, Obi disclosed that he left behind billions in dedicated accounts, including a specific ecological allocation from the Federal Government.
“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 recalled.
“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 explained that the money was received from the Federal Government about three months before he completed his tenure, noting that while aides advised him to spend it, he chose to preserve it for his successor to ensure smooth governance.
“My people were saying, ‘let’s expend this money’. But I kept telling them, government is a continuity and I want the person coming after me to succeed,” Obi said.
Reiterating his confidence in his financial record, Obi challenged anyone who found discrepancies in the state’s account balance at the time of his handover to come forward with proof.
“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,” he stated.
Touching on political dynamics ahead of the 2027 general elections, Obi noted that Governor Soludo and other state executives have the right to support whichever presidential candidate they choose, provided the elections remain credible.
“It’s about over 30 governors today supporting the president. And it is politics and their rights to support whoever they want,” Obi said.
“I’m not urging them to support me. I am only urging them to allow free, fair and credible elections. I’m talking to the people because they have only one vote.”
He emphasized that election outcomes should be decided purely by the electorate rather than state governors, recalling that he started his 2023 presidential campaign without the backing of any elected official.
“Today, it is still the same case. The only thing is I am campaigning to be the president of Nigeria,” he said.
“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 added, “Let it be a free, fair and credible election. Whatever the people decide, I will respect it.”
