Obi Rejects $123.7m Anambra Debt Claim, Says He Left Over $150m in Funds

Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has rejected claims that he left Anambra State with $123.7 million in debt when he handed over power in 2014, insisting that his administration left more than $150 million in funds and investments.

Obi clarified on Thursday during an interview on Arise TV with Charles Aniagolu, amid an accusation by Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo that the state’s debt obligations were allegedly linked to his tenure as governor.

The former governor argued that even if the $123.7 million figure were accepted for the sake of argument, the funds he said he left behind would have been sufficient to settle the obligation while preserving the original capital.

“I left over $150 million that was earning about $10 million annually. If they had just kept that money I left and used the income to pay the loan, they would have finished paying it now, with the $150 million capital still remaining,” Obi said.

He further argued that they had simply retained it; if the $150 million had been allowed to accumulate, it could have grown substantially.

According to Obi, as of June 2026, when the outstanding loan balance cited in the debt claims was about $92.3 million, the original funds, together with compound earnings and interest, would have amounted to about $335 million.

Obi also disputed the description of the alleged $123.7 million as the debt he left behind, describing it as “very wrong public accounting.” Reports on the controversy note that the $123.7 million figure refers to the aggregate amounts associated with loan facilities, while the Anambra government has cited about $92.3 million as outstanding on those facilities as of June 2026.

Obi maintained that he did not approach any financial institution to borrow money or issue bonds on behalf of Anambra State throughout his eight years in office.

“I, Mr Peter Obi, did not approach any financial institution to borrow money or issue bonds on behalf of Anambra State in the eight years that I was in government.”

He said that when he left office, the state was not owing salaries, gratuities or pensions due for payment, and that contractors and suppliers who had completed, certified and verified their jobs had also been paid.

Obi said some of the facilities being attributed to his administration involved concessionary development support from the Federal Government and the World Bank, rather than commercial borrowing initiated directly by his administration.

He also argued that an approved facility should not automatically be treated as debt incurred if the funds were not actually drawn down.

The NDC candidate said his handover documents contained details of the funds, investments and foreign currency holdings he left behind, including the banks where the money was domiciled.

He challenged relevant institutions to verify the figures and said the records could be checked against bank statements and documents from development institutions.

Obi also cited former Debt Management Office Director-General Abraham Nwankwo, whom he said publicly acknowledged that he was the only governor who never approached the DMO during Nwankwo’s tenure to seek approval to borrow money.

The former Anambra governor also appealed to state governors to allow other presidential candidates to campaign freely ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“My appeal is that they let people choose whom they want to serve them. They will never find me insulting them; it is an office I have held.”