The Presidency has dared Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi to withdraw from the 2027 race, citing fresh claims by the Anambra State Government that his administration left behind unpaid loans and arrears.
Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, issued the challenge in a post on X on Wednesday. He referenced the state government’s assertion that Obi’s government left outstanding liabilities, including those owed to Water Corporation workers, teachers, pensioners and gratuity beneficiaries.
“Peter Obi claimed he left Anambra with a clean slate of debt and even threatened to quit the presidential race if his claims were proven otherwise. Now, the Anambra government has confronted him with facts and figures showing he owed Water Corporation workers, teachers, and…,” Onanuga wrote.
The dispute began after Anambra’s Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Dr Law Mefor, issued a statement rejecting Obi’s insistence that he left the state free of outstanding financial obligations.
Mefor said Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s administration had cleared about N22 billion in gratuity arrears inherited from previous governments and owed to retired state and local government employees and teachers. He maintained that Obi’s tenure left behind outstanding loans as well as salary, pension and gratuity arrears that later administrations inherited.
According to the state government, eight external loans linked to projects implemented during or inherited by the Obi administration remain outstanding. Their combined balance stood at $92.35 million, equivalent to N127.37 billion as of June 30, 2026. The loans covered malaria control, erosion management, healthcare, education, community development and agricultural value-chain development.
Mefor said the government would not be drawn into arguments over which administration paid particular arrears, but insisted that some legacy liabilities dating back to earlier administrations remained unpaid. He specifically cited salary arrears owed to workers of the defunct Water Corporation that persisted throughout Obi’s time in office.
Obi had earlier stated that his administration cleared more than N35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears and left office without outstanding salary, pension or gratuity obligations. He also disputed claims about the ecological fund, saying more than N2.13 billion remained untouched in a First Bank account earmarked for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis, in addition to over N75 billion in savings left behind.
“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” Obi said, challenging the state government or any other party to produce evidence contradicting his account.
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