The Anambra State Government has released official public debt records contesting long-standing assertions made by former Governor and Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC presidential candidate Mr. Peter Obi regarding his financial legacy.
Issued by the Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Dr. Law Mefor, the state’s statement directly challenges Obi’s claims of leaving office with zero debt and no unpaid liabilities.
The government noted that its official response was prompted by a viral post from the former governor regarding local financial discussions.
“We understand that this is a campaign season and candidates often go to extremes to impress. If not that the said post was in his personal handle, we would not have believed that he could have made such wild, and verifiably false claims. As a government, we are focused 100% on delivering dividends of democracy to millions of Ndi Anambra. However, when a former governor of the state makes some outlandish claims about the state of public debt he left behind and especially when the present government has been spending billions of Naira servicing the same debt, a responsible government owes the public a response in the interest of transparency and accountability,” the statement read.
Detailing the figures, state authorities noted that while Obi oversaw approximately $4.05 billion in expenditure during his eight-year tenure, his administration also contracted $123.77 million in external debt.
“Let’s be clear: hardly any government in the world has zero debt stock. The issue is not whether or not borrowing is good: no business or government can scale significantly without some debt. Yes, we converted the audited and published expenditures using the average official exchange rates during the eight years of Peter Obi and they sum to about USS$4.05 billion. At the current official exchange rate, it would sum to about N5.4 trillon and he surely governed to the best of his ability. Of course, no government will ever finish the work of development,” the government explained.
According to data cited from the Debt Management Office (DMO), eight separate external loans remained on the state’s balance sheet when Obi handed over power on March 17, 2014.
State officials highlighted that as of June 30, 2026, the outstanding balance for these inherited external loans stands at N127.4 billion, requiring continuous monthly service payments.
“Evidently, HE Peter Obi borrowed for malaria, erosion control, education, healthcare, etc. So far, this government pays hundreds of millions of Naira every month to service these debts and we are not complaining. It is good for Anambra once we can show the impacts,” the statement added.
Beyond official loans, the government maintained that Obi left significant deficits in public infrastructure, water schemes, and basic social services, while asserting that outstanding pension, salary, and gratuity arrears were also left behind.
“Only about 27% of Anambra residents patronised public health institutions because of poor quality and non-functionality, which he even admitted abandoning public health system at the recent NBA conference. We are convinced that many Ndi Anambra would not have minded if HE Peter Obi had borrowed to fix public schools and hospitals, water schemes, infrastructure, or even to reduce poverty and insecurity. Debt, especially for bankable projects and human capital development, is justifiable. So, HE Peter Obi should stop being irked as if all debt is bad,” Mefor stated.
