The Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has reacted to the renewed controversy over former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi’s financial record, following claims by the state government that his administration left behind loans and other outstanding liabilities.
The controversy followed comments by Anambra State Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, who said the state was still servicing loans obtained by previous administrations, including those of Obi and his successor, Willie Obiano.
Okafor said deductions were still being made from the state’s monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) funds to service loans incurred by previous administrations. He added that the current administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo had not borrowed from any commercial bank since assuming office.
According to the commissioner, the Soludo administration had reduced the state’s debt burden by more than 83 per cent and had also cleared several inherited domestic liabilities, including unpaid contracts, gratuity arrears and pension arrears.
The development has prompted Onanuga to challenge Obi over his earlier claim that he left Anambra without outstanding obligations.
Obi, who is now the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), had denied owing salaries, pensions, gratuities or contractors when he handed over power in 2014.
“As at the day I left office, I was not owing any salary, pension, or gratuity that Anambra state government is supposed to pay,” Obi said.
He added that he was not indebted to any supplier or contractor whose work had been executed and properly processed.
Obi went further to challenge anyone who could prove otherwise, saying he would stop campaigning for the presidency.
“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” he said.
Reacting to the development, Onanuga questioned whether Obi would honour his commitment if the claims made by the Anambra Government were established with official records.
The controversy also centres on an alleged ₦2.1 billion ecological fund which Obi said was left in a First Bank account when he left office.
The former governor maintained that the money was released by the Federal Government about three months before the end of his tenure for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion project. He said he deliberately left the funds untouched for his successor because they were earmarked for the specific project.
Obi also maintained that his administration had cleared historical gratuity and salary arrears worth more than ₦35 billion before leaving office and insisted that there were no outstanding salary, pension or gratuity obligations at handover.
The Anambra Government’s account, however, has raised fresh questions about the liabilities inherited by subsequent administrations and whether all obligations dating from Obi’s tenure had been fully settled.
With Obi having publicly offered to stop his 2027 campaign if evidence was produced to contradict his account, the latest claims have put the onus on both sides to substantiate their respective positions with documentary records.
Obi has already rejected the allegations as false and challenged the Anambra Government to provide evidence to support its claims.