The presidency is making mockery of Mr Peter Obi after Anambra State Government proved that Obi owe salaries and debts during his tenure as the governor.
Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) had been debunking allegations that he owe a lot of debt while he governed Anambra. He said he paid the salaries and arrears, settled all the contractors and owe not even a single pensioner by the time he left office on March 2014.
However, Anambra State Government released statement to that effect this morning, challenging Obi’s calms. Law Mefor, the state commissioner for information and value reorientation, said the former governor left $123.77 million in debt. And as at June 30, 2026, the outstanding balance for the debt still stood at $92.35 million.
In fact, the commissioner’s rebuttal was sweeping, putting holes in all Obi’s major claims to financial integrity during his tenures. The NDC standard-bearer had gone as far as saying that he left a whopping ₦75-billion savings when he finished serving, but Mefor’s report also disputed that.
There was also not a dime in the so-called ecological fund, according to Mefor, which Peter Obi has claimed to have left ₦2.13 billion in a First Bank account.
While taking questions on Arise TV recently, Obi once again taunted his impeccable financial records during his terms as a governor, daring to say he would quit campaigning to be president should anyone prove he owe any financial obligations as a governor.
“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” Obi told Rufai Oseni.
Reacting to the development, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, mocked the former governor. In a post in his X handle, Onanuga challenged Obi to live up to his word and end his presidential bid.
“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 pension and gratuities, and had also borrowed for frivolous things. The ball is back in his court. Will he follow through on his threat by quitting the race” he said.
Meanwhile, reactions that trailed Onanuga’s post were shocking. One person said he would still vote for Peter Obi even if he saw the presidential candidate in a live video “dinning with Osama bin Laden.”