Kenneth Okonkwo changes his mind on Obi’s Anambra debts

Kenneth Okonkwo, a leader in the African Democratic Congress, has admitted he was misled. He had earlier defended former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi against claims that Obi’s administration left debts and financial obligations behind.

Okonkwo, who was Obi’s spokesman during the 2023 presidential campaign, said he can no longer stand by some of the claims he made in Obi’s defense. This change comes after new information from the Anambra State Government.

He made this statement on Sunday during a program called Sunday Politics on Television Continental. Okonkwo is now the spokesman for the presidential campaign council of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who is the ADC presidential candidate for the 2027 election. He said he is willing to change his stance when new facts come to light.

“You know me, I’m a very passionate person in whatever I believe in. Let me tell you, because I was misled,” he said.

Okonkwo remembered that during the 2023 presidential campaign, he told Nigerians that Obi did not leave behind any debts or unpaid salaries, pensions, or gratuities when he left office.

“There was a time I told Nigerians that Peter Obi was not owing anything, did not leave any debt, he was not owing any salary. No gratuity. No pension. And I said, go and verify.

“I’m not a man that stands on my own misunderstanding. When I see the facts, I agree.”

He pointed out that the Anambra State Government later claimed that Obi’s administration took eight loans and that workers at the state-owned water corporation were owed salaries and back pay.

“The fact is, the Anambra State Government said he borrowed eight loans. The fact is that Anambra State said that at the water corporation, he was owing workers there all the salaries, all the arrears. I cannot say the same thing that I said about Peter Obi in 2023,” he said.

Okonkwo’s comments come amid a dispute between Obi and the Anambra State Government over the state’s debt and financial obligations. The state government claims that eight external financing facilities linked to projects during Obi’s time had a total value of $123.77 million, with $92.35 million still owed as of June 30, 2026.

Obi has rejected this claim of $123.77 million as debt, saying it mixes different types of multilateral development financing. He argues that Anambra’s external debt was about $30 million when he left office in March 2014, based on figures from the Debt Management Office.

Okonkwo also mentioned his earlier defense of Obi’s family regarding the cost of a wristwatch allegedly worn by President Bola Tinubu’s son.

“There was a time they figured out that Tinubu’s son was wearing a watch worth up to N135 million,” he said.

“I ran out on television and I said nobody from Peter Obi’s family can ever wear such a thing when people are dying in poverty. I stuck my reputation on it. Can I still say that today?”

He explained that his role in examining Obi will be different in the 2027 election.

“That’s why I said in 2023, I campaigned for them as the examination in chief. In 2027, it’s going to be a cross-examination,” he said.

Obi was governor of Anambra State from March 2006 to March 2014. His first term was cut short by impeachment in November 2006. He returned to office after a court overturned the impeachment and handed over to Willie Obiano on March 17, 2014.