NewzThe Presidency has challenged Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi to honor his pledge to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race, after the Anambra State Government disputed his claim that he left the state without outstanding financial liabilities. Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, issued the challenge in a post on X on Wednesday, citing fresh claims by the Anambra State Government that Obi’s administration left behind unpaid loans and arrears. “Peter Obi claimed he left Anambra with a clean slate of debt,” Onanuga wrote, adding that the state government had since “confronted him with facts and figures” on Water Corporation workers, teachers, pensions and gratuities.
He said Obi had also borrowed for “frivolous things” while in office, and asked whether the former governor would follow through on his earlier threat to withdraw from the presidential race. Peter Obi claimed he left Anambra with a clean slate of debt and even threatened to quit the presidential race if his claims were proven otherwise. Now, the Anambra government has confronted him with facts and figures showing he owed Water Corporation workers, teachers, and… pic.twitter.com/chyENjrKca— Bayo Onanuga, OON, CON (@aonanuga1956) September 16, 2026 The dispute began after the Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Dr Law Mefor, issued a statement disputing Obi’s claim that his administration left the state without outstanding liabilities.
Mefor said Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s administration had cleared about N22 billion in gratuity arrears inherited from previous administrations, and owed to retired state and local government employees and teachers. He said Obi’s administration left outstanding loans, as well as arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuities, that subsequent administrations inherited. According to the state government, eight external loans linked to projects implemented during or inherited by the Obi administration remain outstanding, with a combined balance of $92.35 million, put at N127.37 billion as of June 30, 2026.
The loans covered malaria control, erosion management, healthcare, education, community development and agricultural value-chain development. Mefor said the government would not be drawn into a debate over which administration paid particular arrears, but … By Vincent Ujumadu The Anambra State Government has disputed claims that the administration of former Governor Peter Obi left the state without outstanding liabilities at the end of his tenure.
The government said Obi’s administration left outstanding loans as well as arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuities inherited by subsequent administrations. In a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Dr Law Mefor, the government said the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo had cleared about N22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears owed to retired state and local government employees and teachers. Mefor said the government would not join the debate over which administrations paid particular arrears, but maintained that some legacy liabilities dating back to previous administrations remained outstanding.
He cited salary arrears owed to workers of the defunct Water Corporation, which he said persisted throughout Obi’s tenure. The commissioner also said there were outstanding salary, pension and gratuity arrears owed to primary school teachers under the local government system dating back to the administration of the late Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju. According to Mefor, the present administration was recently informed that the Obi administration had verified and certified 16 months of salary arrears and agreed to pay them in tranches.
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