Former Anambra State Governor and Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has rejected claims that he left the state with $123.77 million in debt when he left office in March 2014.
Obi, in a statement posted on X, said he had remained silent in recent days while mourning his late elder brother and friend, Chief Okey Ezeibe.
He said he had no disagreement with Anambra Governor Chukwuma Soludo and was not seeking to become governor of any state.
On the debt controversy, Obi said he did not borrow funds or issue bonds on behalf of Anambra State during his tenure. He also cited former Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Abraham Nwankwo, who, according to Obi, had described him as the only governor during his 10-year tenure who did not approach the DMO for a loan facility.
Obi further said he left office with no unpaid salaries, pensions or gratuities, and no outstanding payments to contractors or suppliers whose completed work had been verified and certified.
Addressing the disputed figures, he said the state government had wrongly combined the total amount approved for multiyear development programmes, funds actually drawn during his tenure and outstanding balances to arrive at the $123.77 million figure.
According to Obi, the facilities were mainly 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.
He said such facilities were concessionary development financing, with repayment spread over 25 to 30 years, rather than conventional commercial loans personally secured by him.
Obi said the state government should distinguish between the amount approved, the amount actually drawn and the balance outstanding when he handed over on March 17, 2014.
He also questioned the figures attributed to the state government, noting that while it reportedly put the original facilities at $123.77 million and the outstanding balance at $92.35 million as of June 2026, DMO records showed Anambra’s external debt at about $18 million when he assumed office in March 2006 and about $30 million when he left in March 2014.
He added that the DMO recorded Anambra’s external debt at approximately $45.15 million as of December 31, 2014, nine months after he left office.
Obi therefore called on the Anambra State Government to explain how the state could have inherited $123.77 million from him when its recorded external debt stood at about $30 million at the time he left office.
He urged Nigerians to focus on the country’s economic and social challenges rather than what he described as political distractions.
