Peter Obi Kept Anambra’s Books Clean. Soludo’s Phantom Debts Are The Real Scandal -By Jeff Okoroafor

In March 2014, Peter Obi handed over the reins of Anambra State to Willie Obiano. What he left behind was a state with no outstanding salary, pension, or gratuity obligations, over ₦75 billion in savings, and a fully intact ₦2.13 billion ecological fund preserved for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis. These are not campaign slogans. They are documented facts, corroborated by the successor administration and backed by verifiable bank records.

Yet in September 2026, Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s government, through Commissioner for Information Law Mefor, released a statement claiming Peter Obi left behind eight external loans with an outstanding balance of $92.35 million, equivalent to ₦127.37 billion. The Presidency, through Bayo Onanuga, seized on this to dare Peter Obi to quit the 2027 presidential race, citing Peter Obi’s own pledge to withdraw if anyone could establish he left debts.

The problem is that the claim is demonstrably false. And the evidence proving it false has been in the public domain for over a decade.

Obiano’s Handover: The Record That Soludo Ignores

When Willie Obiano took over from Peter Obi in March 2014, his administration claimed it inherited approximately ₦185.1 billion in project-related liabilities from Peter Obi’s government, a figure that became the basis of a political dispute. Peter Obi’s camp immediately rejected the figure, maintaining that he left substantial cash and investments and did not hand over a debt-ridden state. Peter Obi himself provided a detailed breakdown of what he left behind: ₦27 billion in local currency investments, ₦26.5 billion in foreign currency investments, and ₦28.1 billion in certified state and local government balances. Critically, Peter Obi explained that even in his final handover document, he had already deducted ₦10 billion in approved Federal Government refunds, as well as ₦5 billion covering salaries, pensions, gratuities, and certified contract payments for March 2014, before arriving at the balance of over ₦75 billion he bequeathed to his successor. He also provided certified bank statements to Obiano in the presence of all the bank managing directors whose institutions held the funds, an act of transparency that the succeeding administration never credibly disputed.

But here is what Soludo’s government conveniently omits: the Obiano administration also acknowledged that Peter Obi left substantial cash and investments behind. Debt Management Office records from December 31, 2013, shortly before Peter Obi left office, showed Anambra’s external debt at about $30.32 million and domestic debt at approximately ₦3.03 billion. That is a fraction of the $92.35 million figure Soludo’s commissioner now claims is outstanding.

More importantly, the Obiano government never claimed that Peter Obi failed to pay salaries, pensions, or gratuities. The dispute was about project-related liabilities, not worker entitlements. Soludo’s government has now conflated the two, presenting a legacy debt profile as evidence of unpaid salaries, which is a fundamental misrepresentation of the record.

The Ecological Fund: A Bank Account, Not a Loan

Commissioner Law Mefor’s claim that Peter Obi took a ₦2 billion ecological loan is perhaps the most egregious distortion in this entire saga. Peter Obi released a detailed statement titled “Debunking the Phantom Debts and Ecological Loan Fallacy,” in which he explained that the ₦2 billion was not a loan but an ecological fund released approximately three months before the end of his tenure for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.

Peter Obi stated that despite pressure to spend the money before leaving office, he refused, insisting it should be left for his successor because government is a continuum and the funds were tied to a specific project. The money was left 100 percent intact in First Bank, Account No. 2018779464, with a balance of over ₦2.13 billion.

This is not a matter of opinion. It is a bank account that either exists or does not. If Soludo’s government disputes this, it need only check First Bank. The fact that it has not produced evidence contradicting Peter Obi’s account, and has instead resorted to rhetorical attacks, speaks volumes.

Peter Obi further clarified that funds earmarked for specific projects, including the ecological fund, were not even included in the more than ₦75 billion in savings his administration left behind. The ₦75 billion was separate, unencumbered savings. The ecological fund was additional.

Soludo’s Shifting Narrative

Soludo’s own account of Anambra’s debt has been inconsistent. When he succeeded Obiano in 2022, Soludo claimed his administration inherited more than ₦100 billion in debt, alongside a much smaller cash position. That was a criticism of Obiano, not Peter Obi. Now, four years later, the same administration is claiming that the debt it is servicing traces back to Peter Obi’s tenure.

Which is it? If Soludo inherited over ₦100 billion in debt from Obiano in 2022, how does that become Peter Obi’s debt in 2026? The logical chain is broken. What Soludo’s government is doing is retroactively attributing legacy liabilities, many of which predate Peter Obi’s tenure or were incurred by subsequent administrations, to Peter Obi in order to undermine his presidential candidacy.

The commissioner even admitted that some liabilities date back to the administration of former Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju, who governed from 1999 to 2003, before Peter Obi took office. Yet these are being presented as part of Peter Obi’s “debt profile.”

The Presidency’s Double Standard

Bayo Onanuga’s challenge to Peter Obi is an exercise in political opportunism. Onanuga, who serves as Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, demanded that Peter Obi quit the 2027 race if the debt claims are proven. But Onanuga has never called on his own principal to account for his record as Governor of Lagos State.

When Tinubu left office in 2007, Lagos State owed a total of $243,283,449.01 in external debt, according to Debt Management Office records. That is a fact. Tinubu governed Lagos for eight years, from 1999 to 2007, and left behind a foreign debt burden. He did not leave a clean slate. He did not leave billions in savings. He left debt.

If Bayo Onanuga believes that a governor’s financial record should determine eligibility for higher office, then he should apply that standard to President Tinubu as well. The difference is that Peter Obi left savings, while Tinubu left debt. Yet Bayo Onanuga wants Peter Obi to quit the race, while Tinubu seeks a second term.

The hypocrisy is breathtaking.

Peter Obi’s Challenge: A Test of Integrity

Peter Obi has not run from this fight. He has done the opposite. He has challenged anyone with contrary evidence to produce it, declaring: “If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning”.

This is the response of a man who is confident in his record. He has provided the bank account number. He has provided the handover notes. He has provided the figures. He has invited scrutiny. Soludo’s government has responded with press statements and rhetorical flourishes, but no bank statements, no audited records, and no proof that Peter Obi left unpaid salaries, pensions, or gratuities.

The burden of proof is on the accuser. Soludo’s government has failed to meet it.

Why This Matters for 2027

The attempt to smear Peter Obi with phantom debts is not about Anambra’s finances. It is about the 2027 presidential election. Peter Obi represents a genuine threat to the political establishment, and the establishment knows it. That is why the Presidency, through Bayo Onanuga, is amplifying Soludo’s claims. That is why a state government is being weaponized against a former governor who left office twelve years ago.

But the Nigerian people are not easily fooled. They have seen this playbook before. They have watched as political opponents are demonized with unsubstantiated allegations. They have watched as the truth is buried under layers of propaganda.

Peter Obi’s record in Anambra is a matter of public record. He cleared over ₦35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears. He left no outstanding salary, pension, or gratuity obligations. He left over ₦75 billion in savings. He preserved the ₦2.13 billion ecological fund in a First Bank account for its intended purpose. These are facts. They are verifiable. They are incontrovertible.

The Nigerian people deserve a president who will govern with the same discipline, transparency, and fiscal responsibility that Peter Obi demonstrated in Anambra. They deserve a leader who saves for the future rather than borrowing for the present. They deserve a president who leaves office with a clean record, not a trail of debt and unanswered questions.

Peter Obi must be elected President of Nigeria in 2027, not because he is perfect, but because he is the only candidate whose record of governance can withstand the scrutiny that power inevitably brings.

Jeff Okoroafor

Jeff Okoroafor is a social accountability advocate and a political commentator focused on governance, accountability, and social justice in West Africa.