Presidency Dares Peter Obi to Quit 2027 Race Over Anambra Debt Claims

The Presidency has reacted to the ongoing dispute between former Anambra State Governor and presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, and the Anambra State Government over the state’s debts and financial liabilities allegedly inherited from his administration.

Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, challenged Obi to honour his earlier pledge to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race if claims about his administration’s financial record in Anambra were proven wrong.

Onanuga made the challenge in a post on X on Wednesday while reacting to the latest exchange between Obi and the Anambra State Government.

He recalled that the former governor had claimed he left Anambra without debt and had stated that he would stop campaigning if anyone could establish otherwise.

“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.

According to the presidential aide, the Anambra State Government had since responded with figures and claims concerning financial liabilities allegedly left by the former governor’s administration.

“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,” he said.

“The ball is back in his court. Will he follow through on his threat by quitting the race?” Onanuga asked.

The latest development followed a fresh response by the Anambra State Government to Obi’s denial of allegations that his administration left behind inherited debts, unpaid obligations and other financial liabilities.

Obi had, on Tuesday, disputed claims concerning outstanding liabilities, including an alleged N2bn ecological fund, contractor obligations, as well as unpaid salaries, gratuities and pensions.

The former governor maintained that his administration had cleared more than N35bn in historical gratuities and arrears and left office without outstanding salary, pension or gratuity obligations.

He also disputed the state government’s claim concerning the ecological fund, saying more than N2.13bn had been left untouched in a First Bank account for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.

However, Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, rejected Obi’s account in a statement issued on Wednesday.

Mefor said the account identified by Obi was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account and not an ecological fund account.

According to him, the state government obtained a certified printout of the account and found no evidence of the amount allegedly left there by the former administration.

Mefor said, “from 2011 when the account was opened until date, there has never been any such amount—whether as inflow or balance—in the account.”

The disagreement is part of a broader dispute between Obi and the Anambra State Government over the financial position inherited by the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo.

While the state government has alleged that Obi’s administration left behind various financial obligations, the former governor has continued to defend his record and dispute the figures and characterisation of the liabilities.

Obi had earlier challenged anyone capable of disproving his account of the state’s finances to do so, declaring: “If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning.”

The statement has now become a central point in the political exchange, with the Presidency urging Obi to decide whether he would honour the pledge if the allegations against his administration are established.

The dispute comes amid preparations for the 2027 general elections, with Obi expected to remain a major political figure and presidential contender.