The Anambra State Government has challenged former governor Peter Obi’s account of the financial resources he allegedly left behind at the end of his administration, particularly his claim that more than N2.13 billion was preserved for ecological intervention.
The government said records obtained from First Bank did not support Peter Obi’s description of the account or the amount he claimed was available when he left office in March 2014.
The latest disagreement has reopened a wider argument over Anambra State’s financial position at the end of Obi’s tenure, with the former governor maintaining that his administration settled outstanding obligations and left the state with substantial funds, while the current administration has presented a different account of inherited liabilities.
The state’s Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, made the government’s position known in a statement circulated on Wednesday through the Anambra New Media X account.
The statement, titled “Gov Peter Obi and Record of Public Debt in Anambra: Facts Beyond Propaganda and Lies,” specifically questioned the former governor’s claim concerning the ecological fund.
According to Mefor, the government obtained a certified printout of First Bank account number 2018779464, which Obi had identified as the account into which the ecological money was kept.
The commissioner said the document covering the account’s transactions from its opening until the present showed that it was not an ecological fund account.
“We have obtained a certified printout of the account from inception to date. The account is an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account, not an ecological fund account,” Mefor stated.
He further claimed that no transaction in the account reflected an amount of N2.13 billion, either as a single inflow or as the balance maintained in the account.
“From 2011, when the account was opened, until date, there has never been any such amount, whether as inflow or balance, in the account,” he added.
The commissioner consequently asked Obi to explain where the money he referred to as the ecological fund was actually kept if it was not in the account identified by the former governor.
The controversy emerged after Obi rejected claims from the Anambra Government that his administration left behind various financial obligations, including debts associated with ecological intervention, contractor payments, salaries, gratuities and pensions.
Obi, in his response, defended the record of his administration and argued that substantial inherited liabilities had been addressed before he handed over power.
He said his government had systematically dealt with historical gratuity obligations and arrears dating back to earlier administrations, putting the total amount settled at more than N35 billion.
The former governor also insisted that his administration did not leave unpaid salaries, pensions or gratuities at the point of handover.
“At the point of handover, the state owed nothing in salaries, gratuities, or pensions, nor did we owe anything to any contractor for projects duly executed and certified,” Obi said.
A significant part of Obi’s response centred on the ecological fund.
According to him, the money was released roughly three months before the end of his administration to deal with the serious erosion challenge affecting Oko and Umuchiana.
Obi said the funds were meant for a specific purpose and that he resisted pressure to spend the money simply because his administration was approaching the end of its tenure.
He argued that the incoming government should inherit the funds and continue with the intended project, stressing the principle that government remains a continuing institution regardless of changes in leadership.
Obi therefore claimed that the money remained untouched and was transferred intact to the succeeding administration.
He specifically put the balance at more than N2.13 billion and said it was kept in a First Bank account.
The Soludo administration, however, has rejected that version of events, saying the bank documentation in its possession does not establish that the account identified by Obi contained the amount in question.
Mefor said the disagreement was not limited to the ecological fund but extended to the state’s outstanding external borrowing.
He said eight external loans remained after Obi left office on March 17, 2014.
The commissioner put the combined balance of those loans at N127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026, using the official exchange rate applicable to the government’s calculation.
The loans listed by the state include facilities connected to the Malaria Control Booster Project, Third National Fadama Development Project and Health System Development Project II.
Others mentioned were the State Education Programme Investment Project, Community and Social Development Project, Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project and Value Chain Development Project.
Mefor also disputed Obi’s claim that his administration departed without outstanding obligations involving workers and retirees.
The commissioner said the present administration had cleared approximately N22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears.
He nevertheless maintained that some legacy obligations remained from previous administrations, including the period under Obi.
Among the liabilities mentioned were arrears involving retired teachers and former employees of the state Water Corporation.
Mefor claimed that salary arrears owed to Water Corporation workers had continued for years before eventually being addressed by the Soludo administration.
“Salary arrears lingered through the Obi administration and were eventually settled under the Soludo administration, with the first two of three instalments already paid,” he said.
The commissioner also made a claim concerning primary school teachers’ salary arrears.
He alleged that 16 months of outstanding salaries had been verified and certified during the Obi administration but that only five months were eventually paid.
“The Obi administration verified/certified 16 months of salary arrears for primary school teachers but paid only five months,” Mefor said.
Another point of contention is the former governor’s claim that his administration left more than N75 billion in savings.
Rather than accepting the figure, the state government challenged Obi to provide documentary records showing where the alleged savings were held and how the money was accounted for.
“We will not engage in nebulous creative accounting. If there were N75 billion in savings, as claimed, where are the records?” Mefor asked.
The competing accounts have placed the financial history of Anambra State under renewed scrutiny, with both sides relying on different interpretations of the state’s financial position at the time of the 2014 transition and the obligations subsequently handled by succeeding administrations.
Obi has maintained that his administration responsibly managed the state’s resources, cleared significant inherited liabilities and deliberately preserved the ecological funds for a project he considered important to Anambra communities.
The current government, on the other hand, has questioned the documentation supporting those claims and has highlighted outstanding loans and arrears that it says were inherited.
At the centre of the dispute is therefore not only the N2.13 billion ecological fund but also the broader question of what financial assets, debts and obligations were transferred when Obi left office.
Obi has remained confident in his account and challenged anyone with contrary evidence to present it.
“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” the former governor said.