Tanya Davidson
Abuja — Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi, has challenged the Anambra State Government’s characterisation of $123.77 million in multilateral development financing as debt he left behind when he exited office in 2014.
Obi said the figure conflates the total amount approved for multi-year development programmes with funds actually drawn and the balance outstanding when he handed over power on March 17, 2014.
The Anambra State Government has said eight external borrowing facilities linked to projects undertaken during Obi’s administration had a combined contracted value of $123.77 million, with $92.35 million still outstanding as of June 30, 2026.
But Obi argued that the facilities were primarily World Bank and International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, development programmes negotiated by the Federal Government, with participating states accessing the funds through subsidiary arrangements.
“The Anambra State Government must therefore differentiate among three separate figures: the total amount approved for the multiyear development program; the amount Anambra State actually drew during my tenure; and the funding balance outstanding when I handed over on 17 March 2014,” Obi said.
He accused the state government of combining those categories and presenting the resulting $123.77 million as “loans left by Peter Obi,” describing that as an incorrect application of public-sector accounting.
Obi said the facilities were not conventional commercial loans that he personally secured, while acknowledging that Anambra had repayment responsibilities under the respective arrangements.
“This does not suggest that Anambra had no repayment responsibilities; rather, each facility must be examined in light of its approval, effectiveness, drawdown, and repayment record,” he said.
He further cited Debt Management Office, DMO, records to challenge the $123.77 million figure as the state’s outstanding external debt when he left office.
According to Obi, Anambra’s external debt was about $18 million when he assumed office in 2006, about $30 million when he left in March 2014 and approximately $45.15 million by December 2014.
The DMO maintains published external-debt records for March and June 2014, as well as December 2014. A recent fact-check, however, noted that the specific March 17, 2014 figure could not be independently established from the accessible DMO record; it found the closest pre-departure figure at $30.32 million as of December 31, 2013, while the December 2014 figure was $45.15 million.
Obi therefore asked the state government to explain how it could describe $123.77 million as debt inherited from his administration when the available debt-stock figures around the period were substantially lower.
“The Anambra State Government must therefore clarify how a state whose recorded external debt was about US$30 million in March 2014 and US$45.15 million in December 2014 could supposedly have inherited US$123.77 million from Peter Obi, who left office in March of that same year,” he said.
The former governor also disputed claims that he left unpaid salaries, gratuities, pensions or verified obligations to contractors and suppliers when he handed over power.
He said he did not approach any financial institution to borrow funds or issue a bond on behalf of Anambra during his tenure, recalling that the then Director-General of the DMO, Abraham Nwankwo, had publicly described him as the only state governor during his 10-year tenure who had not approached him for a loan facility.
Obi also claimed that he left more than $150 million as the dollar component of investments made for Anambra State and said the funds, if retained, could have generated about $10 million annually.
He argued that over the 13 years since his departure, such income would have been sufficient to cover the $92.35 million outstanding balance cited by the state government.
“If they had chosen to repay the $92.35 million funding, the entire amount would have been covered, leaving approximately US$242 million to be reinvested,” he said.
The Anambra State Government has rejected Obi’s account, maintaining that the eight facilities were external borrowings contracted during his administration and that the state continues to service them through deductions from federal allocations.
Obi, who is seeking the presidency on the NDC platform, said he would not continue trading words with the state government over his tenure, insisting that his focus would now be on issues affecting Nigerians.
“My focus will now be on issues affecting the suffering Nigerian masses, which is the reason for my presidential ambition,” he said.
