2027 elections: “You lied”… Anambra releases Obi’s debts records, Tinubu’s men dare him to quit race

By Kingston Magare 16.9.2026
Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate Peter Obi’s claim he did not leave any debt behind in Anambra State after his tenure as governor has been disputed.
Mr. Obi had threatened to quit the presidential race if it was proven that he owed any debt before departing office in 2014.
The Anambra State government under Charles Soludo Wednesday released the debts records of previous administrations, it showed that Obi incurred a debt of $123.77 million in external debt over his eight-year administration.
According to the record released by Anambra State commissioner for information, Dr. Law Mefor Obi’s administration spent an estimated $4.05 billion (equivalent to N5.4 trillion at current exchange rates) over eight years. However, the state clarified that during this same period, the former governor contracted $123,771,179.30 in external debt. Due to exchange rate fluctuations, the outstanding balance of these specific loans stood at a staggering N127,372,049,434.12 ($92.35 million) as of June 30, 2026.
The state government also rejected Obi’s claims that he cleared all inherited arrears of pensions, salaries, and gratuities, labeling the assertion as patently false.
: “So, Your Excellency, you owed salaries, pensions and gratuities. Many of these people are still alive and can testify. It is not good to speak loudly without facts or with fabricated figures… you obviously LIED: you owed many, not one, and those debts are yet to be fully cleared even today!”
Meanwhile President Bola Tinubu’s adviser on information and strategy jump on the revelation and dared Obi to resign from the presidential race.
“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,” Onanuga wrote on X.
“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.”