A dispute over the actual amount of external borrowing linked to Peter Obi’s tenure as Anambra governor has opened a wider debate about the intensity of political attacks against the former governor within the South-East.
The controversy took a new turn after Arise TV anchor Rufai Oseni challenged Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, over the government’s presentation of a $123.77 million loan figure attributed to the Obi administration.
During the televised exchange, Oseni questioned whether the entire value of the facilities represented money actually drawn while Obi was governor, pointing to Debt Management Office records which he said indicated a substantially lower figure had been accessed.
Mefor acknowledged that the distinction required further verification, saying the state had not examined the issue from that particular angle and would engage the appropriate authorities to establish the actual amount drawn. Reports of the exchange subsequently shifted attention from the existence of the loan facilities to the more specific question of what was actually accessed during Obi’s tenure.
The Anambra government had previously said eight external borrowing facilities associated with projects implemented during Obi’s administration had an original value of $123.77 million, with an outstanding balance put at about N127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026. Obi has rejected the broader claim that he left the state indebted.
For Oseni, however, the argument extends beyond the disputed figures. He questioned what he described as the unusually sharp criticism directed at Obi by some politicians and government officials from the South-East, particularly when compared with political disagreements involving leaders from other regions.
He cited the political relationship between Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and President Bola Tinubu, arguing that political differences elsewhere do not necessarily translate into sustained personal attacks. He also pointed to Makinde’s public condemnation of the reported obstruction of Obi’s convoy in Benue State as an example of political disagreement coexisting with support for another politician’s rights.
Oseni’s central argument was that political competition should not erase regional or personal relationships, especially because political alignments can change after elections. He cautioned politicians, aides and spokespersons against making statements in the heat of political battles that could become difficult to retract when circumstances change.
His intervention also brought figures such as Governors Hope Uzodinma and Alex Otti and Senator Orji Uzor Kalu into the wider discussion about political differences within the South-East, although the positions and circumstances involving each politician are distinct.
The debt controversy itself remains unresolved in the sense that the parties are disputing how the historical borrowing should be characterised. The Anambra government has maintained that loan facilities linked to Obi’s administration remain financial obligations being serviced by the state, while the precise amount actually drawn during his tenure requires reconciliation with official debt records.
Oseni’s broader warning was summed up in his remark that “tomorrow is pregnant” — a reference to the uncertainty of political alliances and the possibility that today’s opponents may find themselves working together tomorrow. The episode has therefore turned a dispute over historical debt figures into a larger conversation about how political actors handle disagreements within the same region.
