Peter Obi has rejected claims by the Anambra State Government that his administration left about $123.77 million in outstanding external debt, arguing that approved or undrawn loan facilities should not automatically be classified as money borrowed and spent by a government.
Obi, who served as Anambra governor from 2006 to 2014, made the clarification on Arise TV’s Prime Time on Thursday while responding to the renewed controversy over the state’s financial obligations.
The former governor said he did not approach any financial institution to borrow money or issue bonds during his eight-year tenure.
“Even if I had gone to the bank and borrowed money, but I did not spend the money, you cannot call it debt I left,” Obi said.
He illustrated his argument with a hypothetical N10 billion loan facility, saying that if a bank approved and disbursed N10 billion but the government only drew down N500 million, it would be wrong to claim that the government owed the full N10 billion.
“Assuming I had gone to the bank and said, ‘Bank A, borrow me N10 billion,’ and they gave me a loan of N10 billion, I only drew down N500 million. You cannot say I’m owing N10 billion because you know the amount,” he said.
“That’s why I said it is not proper public sector accounting. That’s why I showed the layers.”
Obi also disputed the description of some facilities associated with his administration as conventional commercial loans, explaining that some were concessionary development funds provided through the Federal Government and multilateral institutions.
According to him, Anambra, Ekiti and Bauchi were selected for concessionary support because of their performance in education, with the funding involving the World Bank.
He specifically cited the State Education Programme Investment Project (SEPIP), saying the relevant drawdown occurred after he had left office in March 2014.
Obi cites former DMO boss
To reinforce his position, Obi invoked the name of Abraham Nwankwo, former Director-General of the Debt Management Office.
Obi said Nwankwo, who he described as having served as DMO director-general for about 10 years, invited him to chair his send-off ceremony and publicly stated that Obi was the only governor who had never visited his office to seek approval to borrow money.
“He announced to everybody at that party that the reason why he made me chairman is because I was the only governor in Nigeria who never came to his office for approval to borrow money,” Obi said.
He maintained that state governments seeking to borrow externally must obtain the necessary Federal Government approvals and insisted that he never went through that process during his tenure.
‘I left over $150m’
Obi also said he left more than $150 million in funds and investments when he handed over power, with the money, according to him, generating about $10 million annually.
He argued that if the funds had been retained and used to service the state’s external obligations, the loans could have been paid off while the principal remained available to the state.
The former governor further said his handover documents contained details of the cash, investments and foreign-currency holdings left behind, including supporting bank statements.
Anambra Government’s position
The controversy follows allegations by the Anambra State Government that eight external borrowing facilities contracted during Obi’s tenure remained outstanding.
The state has put the outstanding balance at about $123.77 million, equivalent to roughly N127.4 billion, as of June 30, 2026, and said the obligations were still being serviced from federal allocations.
The government has also disputed Obi’s claims concerning salary, pension and gratuity arrears, as well as other liabilities allegedly inherited by subsequent administrations.
Obi, however, maintains that when he left office, Anambra owed no salaries, gratuities or pensions due for payment, and that contractors and suppliers whose jobs had been completed, certified and verified had been paid.
The dispute has now become a wider political controversy ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with both sides presenting sharply different interpretations of the state’s debt records and the financial arrangements made during Obi’s tenure.