Obi insists he left Anambra debt-free, says World Bank loans were federal support drawn after he left office

Key points

• Obi told Arise TV he left office in March 2014 owing no salaries, pensions, gratuities or certified contractors.
• Anambra says eight external loans from his tenure carried a N127.4 billion balance as of June 30, 2026, still serviced from federal allocations.
• Obi says the loans were federal-arranged World Bank support for education, with drawdowns mostly after he left office.

Peter Obi has insisted he never borrowed money or issued bonds on behalf of Anambra State during his eight years as governor, pushing back against state government claims that his administration left liabilities for successors to service.

The Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate spoke on Arise TV’s Prime Time on Thursday. “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 said.

When he left office in March 2014, Obi said, the state owed no salaries, gratuities or pensions, and no contractor or supplier whose work had been executed, certified and verified. “Not one,” he added.

The World Bank question

The dispute centers on external loans. Anambra’s Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, has said eight external borrowings contracted during Obi’s tenure carried an outstanding balance of about N127.4 billion, or $123.77 million, as of June 30, 2026, and are still being serviced from federal allocations.

The state also cited salary arrears, including at the Water Corporation, and disputed Obi’s claim of leaving more than N2.13 billion in an ecological fund account. It challenged him to quit the 2027 race.

Obi’s answer is that those were not commercial loans he sought. According to him, the Federal Government selected Anambra, Ekiti and Bauchi for concessionary multilateral support because of their performance in education, and the World Bank-backed funding came through that channel.

Moreover, he said the drawdown under the State Education Programme Investment Project happened well after he left office.

Even if the entire amount had been drawn, he argued, the state had enough left to cover it. He also contended that undrawn balances on a facility cannot be counted as debt, calling the state’s approach “not proper public sector accounting.”

As further evidence, Obi cited former Debt Management Office Director-General Abraham Nwankwo, who he said told guests at his send-off that Obi was the only governor who never visited his office seeking approval to borrow.

Obi’s camp turns on Soludo

Meanwhile, Obi’s allies have trained their fire on Gov. Chukwuma Soludo. NDC spokesman Osa Director called the governor’s attacks a distraction and suggested he was “doing someone’s bidding to destroy his own brother.”

John Ughulu, director-general of the Obi-backed OK Movement, said Soludo should focus on governing Anambra.

The movement respects his choice to back President Bola Tinubu and the APC in 2027, Ughulu said, but political disagreement should not become “a continuous campaign against another individual.”

Obi’s popularity, he added, should be met with stronger policies rather than personal attacks.

Obi had previously vowed to stop campaigning if it was proven he left the state in debt or with unpaid certified contractor obligations. Consequently, the exchange has raised the stakes on both sides.