The Anambra State Government has renewed its challenge to former Governor and 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, over his pledge to withdraw from the presidential race if it is established that he left the state with outstanding financial obligations.
The latest salvo came Tuesday through the state government’s New Media Office, which questioned when Obi would honour the pledge after presenting a 2006 document concerning unpaid salaries at the Anambra State Water Corporation. The government also accused the former governor of contradicting an earlier commitment to resign if workers were not paid as and when due.
The document, dated April 25, 2006, was purportedly signed by Obi’s then Chief of Staff, Chuks Iloegbunam. It appealed to the governor to address salary arrears owed to Water Corporation workers, stating that employees had last received their salaries in February while the corporation’s monthly wage bill was about N15 million. The authenticity of the document has not been independently established.
The state government has been pressing its broader case over Obi’s eight-year administration, maintaining that records show outstanding financial obligations were left behind. Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, previously put the outstanding balance on eight external loans associated with projects under Obi at about N127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026.
Obi has rejected the allegations, insisting that he left office in 2014 without unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities or liabilities to contractors whose completed works had been properly processed and certified. He said his administration had cleared more than N35 billion in historical arrears and challenged anyone able to prove otherwise to do so, pledging to stop his presidential campaign if such evidence emerged.
Obi’s media aide, Idris Zekeri Jnr, has said former officials of the administration were preparing a substantive response to the allegations. The latest exchange has further intensified the dispute between Obi and the Anambra government over the financial record of his administration and whether his pledge to quit the 2027 race has been triggered.
