Obi insists Anambra was debt-free when he left office, counters Soludo's claims

The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, has said he did not borrow money or issue bonds for Anambra State when he was governor.

Obi spoke on Arise TV’s Prime Time show on Thursday. He said his government left office in March 2014 without owing salaries, gratuities, pensions, or contractors who completed their jobs and got verified.

The former governor was reacting to claims from the Anambra State Government. They alleged that his government left debts and other liabilities for future governments to deal with.

"Let me say this again: I, Mr. Peter Obi, did not go to any bank to borrow money or issue bonds for Anambra State during my time as governor.

"When I left office, Anambra State was not owing any salary, gratuity, or pension to anyone due to be paid by the state. We did not owe any contractor or supplier who did their job, got certified, and verified, not one," he said.

Obi explained that the loans linked to his administration were not money he personally borrowed. He said some of the funding came with support from the Federal Government.

"I didn’t go to get it. But what I’m saying is, if your father leaves you 100 million and someone claims your father owes 10 million, will you tell people your father left you debt? Unless there’s more to it, that would be unfair," he said.

He mentioned that the Federal Government chose Anambra, Ekiti, and Bauchi states for special support because of their good performance in education.

"There’s a difference between borrowing from a bank and the federal government saying, ‘This state is doing well in education.’ They picked Anambra, Ekiti, and Bauchi and said, ‘Let’s give them support to help them,’" he said.

Obi confirmed that the funding involved the World Bank and was not obtained from a commercial bank.

"Yes, and the World Bank," Obi said when asked if the funding was a decision by the Federal Government to provide help.

"To support us. It’s not that we went to the World Bank and said, ‘give us this,’ or that we went to any commercial bank. To make things clearer, if you look at the State Education Program Investment Project (SEPIP), you’ll see that the drawdown happened long after I left office," he said.

He added that even if all the money in question had been drawn down, there would still be enough funds left.

"I’ve assumed the whole situation and said if that was the case, there was enough left to pay it, and the state would still be financially sound," he said.

Obi argued that undrawn funds from a loan should not count as debt.

"Even if I had borrowed money, if I didn’t spend it, you cannot say that’s debt I left behind.

"If I had gone to a bank and said, ‘Bank A, give me a loan of 10 billion,’ and they gave me that loan, but I only drew down 500 million, you can’t say I owe 10 billion because you know the amount. That’s why I said it is not proper public sector accounting," he explained.

To back up his point, Obi mentioned Abraham Nwankwo, the former Director-General of the Debt Management Office, who he said worked for 10 years.

"To confirm this: the then DG, Abraham Nwankwo, invited me to his send-off party. He told everyone there that I was the only governor in Nigeria who never visited his office to ask for approval to borrow money," he said.

This argument comes after recent criticisms from the Anambra State Government. They accused Obi of leaving behind eight external loans and other debts.

The state government recently challenged Obi to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race. They accused him of leaving unpaid external loans and salary, pension, and gratuity arrears, and of breaking earlier promises on debts and timely payment of workers.

Through its New Media Office and Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Dr. Law Mefor, the state said that eight external loans taken during Obi’s time left an outstanding balance of about N127.4 billion (around $123.77 million) as of June 30, 2026. They said this debt is still being serviced from federal allocations.

They also mentioned salary arrears, including at the Water Corporation, and disputed Obi’s claim of leaving over N2.13 billion in an ecological fund account.

Obi had previously said he would stop campaigning if it was proven that he left Anambra in debt or with unpaid certified contractor obligations.

He has insisted that his administration cleared more than N35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears and left no such debts.