Commissioner: Peter Obi’s Loans Still Being Deducted From Anambra Allocations

Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor 

The Anambra State Government has said monthly deductions are still being made from the state’s Federation Account Allocation Committee revenue to service external loans it attributes to the administration of former Governor Peter Obi, intensifying a dispute over the financial records of Obi’s tenure that has now drawn in the Presidency and become entangled with the 2027 presidential campaign.

The Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Dr Law Mefor, disclosed this on Friday while speaking on Arise Television’s The Morning Show, saying the fact that some of the facilities were guaranteed by the Federal Government did not mean they were grants or funds that did not require repayment. “First and foremost, a loan is a loan, and whether it is sovereign or not, even an interest-free loan is still a loan,” Mefor said. “The FAAC allocations to Anambra State are being deducted every month to service the separate loans taken by the Peter Obi administration”.

Mefor said the loans were among eight external facilities guaranteed by the Federal Government, adding that states had the option of participating in the lending programmes. He cited Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s decision not to participate in the Nigeria CARES loan from the World Bank as evidence that state governments could choose whether to take such facilities. “So Obi had the opportunity to either take or not to take. So if you take, you take the responsibility,” he said.

The commissioner put the external facilities attributed to Obi’s administration at $123 million, arguing that the outstanding obligations should form part of any assessment of the former governor’s financial record. He said the loans were taken for various development programmes and insisted the issue was not whether borrowing was inherently wrong, but whether Obi’s claim that he did not take loans was accurate. “The point I’m trying to make is simple: he took loans, and he said he didn’t take,” Mefor said. He also rejected Obi’s claim that he left no financial liabilities for his successor, saying some of the obligations from the loans remained outstanding.

The Anambra government has maintained that records from the Debt Management Office show eight external loans contracted during Obi’s tenure, with the outstanding balance put at about N127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026. The loans include facilities from the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and other multilateral institutions. The government said the original external loans contracted under Obi amounted to $123.77 million, with $92.35 million still outstanding as of the same date.

When pressed on how much was actually drawn down from the loans during Obi’s tenure, Mefor said he did not have the figures and would need to reconcile them with the Debt Management Office. He acknowledged the logic of attributing liability according to the amount drawn down during an administration. “I understand the logic that if his administration did not draw down the entire amount, we should attribute liability to him only to the extent that was drawn down during his administration. That is logical,” he said. He nonetheless maintained that Obi’s administration had committed Anambra State to the loan liability.

The dispute has escalated into a broader political confrontation. The Presidency, through the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, challenged Obi to quit the 2027 presidential race if the debt claims were proven, a dare that Obi’s camp has dismissed as politically motivated. Minister of Aviation Festus Keyamo also weighed in, saying it was hypocritical to scrutinise Tinubu’s Lagos tenure while rejecting checks on Obi’s Anambra administration, a position that signaled the Presidency’s willingness to engage directly in the dispute.

Obi’s camp has responded with documents and counter-claims. The National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement, Dr Tanko Yunusa, released a copy of Obi’s 2014 handover report, dated March 17, 2014 and addressed to his successor, Willie Obiano, showing a net balance of N86.67 billion at the end of his administration. According to the document, Obi listed local investments valued at N27 billion and foreign currency investments of $156 million, valued at N26.5 billion, alongside estimated liabilities of N5 billion covering March salaries, pensions, gratuities, and approved certificates for projects already executed. Obi’s supporters have also pointed to claims that his administration cleared historical gratuities and arrears worth more than N35 billion, dismissing the debt claims as “deliberately fabricated to undermine Obi’s presidential ambition in 2027”.

Obi himself has challenged the state government to produce evidence contradicting his account, saying he would end his 2027 presidential campaign if it could establish that he left the state in debt. He has insisted he left office without outstanding salaries, pensions, gratuities or obligations to contractors, and that his administration recorded savings rather than liabilities. His former Secretary to the State Government, Oseloka Obaze, has also come forward to back the handover note, testifying to the funds transferred to the Obiano administration.

The dispute has drawn reactions from other quarters. Abia State Governor Alex Otti and former World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala have defended Obi, while some Nigerians have criticised Soludo over what they describe as constant attacks on the 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress. The Anambra State Government, for its part, has disputed Obi’s claim that more than N2.13 billion in ecological funds was left intact in a First Bank account, saying the claim does not match the state’s records.

The financial records at the centre of the dispute concern the eight-year period from 2006 to 2014 when Obi governed Anambra State. The external loans were contracted through multilateral institutions and guaranteed by the Federal Government, a structure that gave states the option of participating in lending programmes. The loans were tied to development programmes that included infrastructure, education, health, and water supply projects. The Anambra government’s position is that the obligations remained outstanding at the point of handover and have continued to be serviced through monthly FAAC deductions ever since. Obi’s position is that the loans were not liabilities he left unpaid and that his administration’s financial record was one of prudent management and savings.

The timing of the dispute has made it a charged political issue. The 2027 presidential election is less than four months away, with the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, 2027. Obi is seeking the presidency on the platform of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, while Soludo has endorsed President Bola Tinubu for a second term and declared that his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, will not field a presidential candidate. The debt dispute has therefore become a proxy battle in a wider political contest over Anambra’s votes and the credibility of Obi’s record as a public official.

For now, both sides remain entrenched. The Anambra government says the deductions continue and the loans remain outstanding. Obi’s camp says the handover documents prove otherwise and accuses the state government of fabricating evidence to damage his campaign. The Debt Management Office, which both sides cite, has not issued a public statement reconciling the competing figures. Until it does, or until the courts or an independent audit settle the matter, the dispute will continue to be fought in the media and on the campaign trail, with each side presenting its version of what happened when Peter Obi left office in March 2014. What is certain is that the monthly deductions from Anambra’s FAAC allocations, whether they are servicing Obi’s loans or those of other administrations, represent a continuing fiscal burden on a state that is still working to meet the expectations of its people.

📩 Stone Reporters News | 🌍 stonereportersnews.com

✉️ info@stonereportersnews.com | 📘 Facebook: Stone Reporters News | 🐦 X (Twitter): @StoneReportNew | 📸 Instagram: @stonereportersnews