Former Anambra State Governor and presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has rejected claims that his administration borrowed money or issued bonds on behalf of the state during his eight years in office.
Obi made the clarification while appearing on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme on Thursday, amid an ongoing dispute with the Anambra State Government over debts allegedly linked to his tenure.
He said he left office in March 2014 without owing salaries, pensions, gratuities or contractors whose completed projects had been properly certified and verified.
Obi said, “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 I was in government.”
He maintained that his administration also did not owe any salary, pension or gratuity that was due for payment when he handed over power.
According to Obi, some of the funding being attributed to his administration came through Federal Government-backed concessionary programmes rather than loans directly obtained from commercial banks.
He specifically mentioned the State Education Programme Investment Project (SEPIP), under which Anambra, Ekiti and Bauchi were selected for multilateral support because of their performance in education.
Obi said the programme involved World Bank funding and that the drawdown of the funds occurred after he had left office.
He also argued that approved but undrawn funds should not be treated as debt already incurred or spent by a government.
“Even if I had gone to a bank and borrowed money, but I did not spend the money, you cannot call it debt I left,” he said.
The former governor further cited former Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Abraham Nwankwo, whom he said once stated that Obi was the only governor who did not visit his office to seek approval to borrow money.
The controversy follows claims by the Anambra State Government that loans contracted during Obi’s tenure remain state liabilities being serviced by successive administrations.
The state government has said eight external borrowing facilities linked to projects under Obi’s administration had an original value of about $123.77 million, with an outstanding balance of about N127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026.
Anambra officials have also said deductions are still being made from the state’s federal allocations to service loans inherited from previous administrations, including those of Obi and former Governor Willie Obiano.
Obi, however, has maintained that his administration’s financial records can be verified through official documents, including the handover report, and continues to dispute the state government’s characterization of the liabilities.
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