RismadarVoice Reporters
September 27, 2026
The Anambra State Government has demanded an apology from former governor Peter Obi over disputed loans and other liabilities it says originated during his administration.
The Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, made the demand in a statement responding to Obi’s position on the financial obligations he left behind after completing his tenure in 2014.
Mefor said Obi had challenged the state government to provide evidence that his administration left debts, arguing that records subsequently presented by the government showed that eight International Development Association and World Bank facilities were contracted during his tenure.
According to the state government, the eight facilities had a combined contracted value of $123,771,179.30, with portions disbursed before Obi left office.
The government further cited Debt Management Office figures showing an outstanding balance of $92.35 million on the facilities as of June 30, 2026, which it valued at about ₦127.37 billion.
Mefor said successive administrations had continued servicing the obligations through deductions from the state’s allocations.
The commissioner consequently called on Obi to apologise for his previous statements concerning the financial position of Anambra at the end of his administration.
“Now that the facts challenge your character and integrity, you have no choice but to take the path of honour: tender an unreserved apology to the government and people of Anambra State and Nigeria and move on,” Mefor said.
The state government also rejected Obi’s argument that he did not personally approach the World Bank or the DMO to obtain the facilities.
“You do not have to ‘go to a bank or DMO’ before your borrowing can be perfected. All that is required is for you to sign the loan agreements, and your government did,” Mefor said.
Obi, however, disputes the state government’s characterisation of the figures.
The former governor has argued that the total value approved for multi-year development programmes should be distinguished from the amount actually drawn during his tenure and the outstanding balance when he left office in March 2014.
Obi maintained that he did not obtain conventional commercial loans or issue bonds on behalf of Anambra State during his administration.
He has also cited historical DMO figures which, according to him, showed Anambra’s external debt at about $30 million when he left office, challenging the government to reconcile that figure with the $123.77 million contracted value it has cited.
The disagreement therefore centres partly on how the multilateral facilities should be characterised and which amounts were actually drawn during Obi’s tenure.
The state government has maintained that the facilities constituted obligations of Anambra State and challenged Obi to dispute the underlying loan records through the DMO.
MeFOr also alleged that Obi’s administration left unpaid salaries and pension obligations, although the latest statement did not provide a detailed breakdown of those claims.
The controversy has developed into a wider political dispute over Obi’s financial record as governor, with both sides maintaining different interpretations of the state’s liabilities at the time he left office.
The DMO published Nigeria’s latest external debt stock figures for the period ending June 30, 2026, on September 25.
