The Anambra State Government has shared a document showing that N363.381 million has been approved as the second payment of salary arrears for workers, pensioners, and the next of kin of the defunct Anambra State Water Corporation and the Anambra State Environmental Protection Agency.
This document was made public on Friday during a disagreement between the state government and former Governor Peter Obi. They are arguing about whether his administration left unpaid workers’ benefits when he left office in 2014.
The document, dated May 24, 2025, was signed by the then Head of Service, Dame Theodora Okwy Igwegbe, and sent to Governor Chukwuma Soludo.
The Anambra State New Media Office highlighted this development in a post on X on Friday.
The post read, "PART 3: EVIDENCE THAT LYING IS IN PETER OBI’S DNA."
It continued, "The Soludo administration paid the first tranche of state workers’ entitlements, entitlements Peter Obi left unpaid during his eight years as governor. Gov Soludo has now, also, paid the second. Peter Obi knows we know he’s lying."
The document requests approval for the release of N363,381,000 for the second payment of salary arrears as part of an out-of-court settlement between the state government and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical and Recreational Services Employees.
It stated that this payment is part of the agreement made on February 6, 2024, regarding the arrears owed to workers, pensioners, and next of kin of the defunct Water Corporation and ANSEPA.
According to the document, the second payment is set to be disbursed in 2026.
The Head of Service wrote, "That the agreed second tranche payment of Three Hundred and Sixty-Three Million, Three Hundred and Eighty-One Thousand Naira only (N363,381,000.00) is due for disbursement in line with the Terms of Settlement signed on 6th February 2024."
She added that the payment will go through the State Government Payroll System using a dedicated account.
The document also noted that the payment would "further reinforce your administration’s commitment to social justice, workers’ welfare, and adherence to agreements reached with organised labour."
This latest news comes just days after Obi claimed that he left Anambra State without any unpaid salaries, gratuities, or pensions.
Speaking on Arise TV’s Prime Time programme, Obi said, "On the day I left office, the government of Anambra State, which I headed, was not owing any salary, gratuity, or pension to those scheduled to be paid by the state government."
He also stated, "We were not owing any contractor or supplier who executed his job, certified and verified, not one."
Obi denied claims that he borrowed money or issued bonds on behalf of Anambra State during his time in office.
"Let me categorically state again: I, Mr Peter Obi, did not approach any financial institution to borrow money or issue bonds on behalf of Anambra State in the eight years I was in government," he said.
He explained that some of the funds linked to his administration were concessionary multilateral support arranged through the Federal Government.
"There’s a difference between I went to the bank to borrow money, then the Federal Government sees, ‘Oh, this state is doing well in education.’ They selected Anambra, Ekiti, and Bauchi and said, ‘These three states are doing well. Why don’t we give them a concessionary multilateral support to help them?’" he said.
Obi argued that undrawn funds under a facility should not be considered as debt incurred by his administration.
"Even if I had gone to a bank and borrowed money, even if I had gone to a bank and borrowed money, but I did not spend the money, you cannot call it debt I left," he said.
The disagreement over the workers’ arrears is part of a larger conflict between Obi and the Soludo administration about the financial state of Anambra when the former governor left office.
The Anambra State Government insists it inherited unpaid liabilities from previous administrations, including salary, pension, and gratuity arrears. It has claimed that the Soludo administration has cleared about N22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears, while some legacy arrears persist.
The state government has specifically stated that salary arrears involving staff of the defunct Water Corporation were settled under the Soludo administration, with the first two of three payments made.
Obi, on the other hand, continues to insist that his administration left without any unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities, or certified obligations to contractors.
The latest document shows the existence of the 2024 out-of-court settlement and the approval process for the N363.381 million second tranche. It does not, however, clarify when all the underlying arrears came about or which administration was responsible for them.
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