AWKA, Nigeria — The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, rejected claims on Monday, September 14, 2026, that his administration left outstanding debts for the Anambra State Government to repay, stating he settled all obligations due before handing over power in 2014.
Okay News reports that Peter Obi made the clarification in a video from the Voice of Ndi Anambra Podcast, responding to comments by Anambra State Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, who stated that monthly federal allocation deductions were still servicing loans incurred under previous administrations, including those of Peter Obi and his successor, Willie Obiano.
Peter Obi, who served as governor of Anambra State from 2006 to 2014, disputed the assertions, stating that his administration left no unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities, or processed contractor claims.
“As at the day I left office, I was not owing any salary, pension, or gratuity that Anambra State Government is supposed to pay,” Peter Obi said. “I was not owing any supplier or contractor that had executed his job and his documents processed, not one. The day I left office; I paid what was due to be paid. I wasn’t owing any contractors.”
The former governor also addressed an ecological fund held in a state account at the time of his departure, explaining that the Federal Government of Nigeria released the funds approximately three months before his administration ended for a specific erosion control project. He noted that the account at the First Bank of Nigeria branch at Nnamdi Azikiwe University held a balance of about ₦2.1 billion ($1.3 million USD at market conversion) that was reserved specifically for that project rather than general government expenditure.
“My people were saying, ‘let’s expend this money’. But I kept telling them, government is a continuity and I want the person coming after me to succeed,” Peter Obi said. He challenged anyone disputing his account to verify bank records, stating, “I say it again, if you go to the account, I’m going to give you the account number. I have given you the bank and the branch. If you see anything contrary to the day I left office, I will stop campaigning.”
Regarding political alignments ahead of the 2027 presidential election, Peter Obi stated that state governors, including Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo, have the right to choose which candidate they support. He emphasized that more than 30 governors currently back Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, adding that the outcome of the 2027 election should be decided by voters in a free and fair process rather than through official state machinery.
“It’s about over 30 governors today supporting the president. And it is politics and their rights to support whoever they want,” Peter Obi said. “I’m not urging them to support me. I am only urging them to allow free, fair and credible elections. I’m talking to the people because they have only one vote.”
“But it is the people of Nigeria that will decide, not the governors, unless they’re going to write the results or rig the election, which is what I’m preaching against,” Peter Obi added. “Let it be a free, fair and credible election. Whatever the people decide, I will respect it.”
