Peter Obi handover document shows a ₦86.67bn net balance as Anambra disputes his account of outstanding loans and financial obligations
Former Anambra State Governor and Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate Peter Obi has released his handover document in Abuja on Wednesday, 16 September 2026, seeking to counter the Charles Soludo-led Anambra State Government’s claims that his administration left behind outstanding loans and other financial obligations.
Also read: Anambra Challenges Obi Over N127.4bn Debt
The Peter Obi handover document, published by Dr Yunusa Tanko, the Interim National Coordinator of the Obedient Movement, is dated 17 March 2014 and contains a summary of Anambra State’s financial position at the end of Obi’s tenure.
According to the document, the state had a gross financial balance of ₦91.67 billion, against estimated liabilities of ₦5 billion, leaving a stated net balance of ₦86.67 billion.
The figures include local investments, foreign currency investments, certified balances of state ministries, departments and agencies, and an expected federal government refund.
The publication comes as a long-running disagreement over Anambra’s finances has taken on renewed political significance ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The immediate dispute followed comments by Anambra State Commissioner for Finance Izuchukwu Okafor, who said the current administration was still servicing loans inherited from previous governments, including administrations led by Peter Obi and Willie Obiano.
Okafor made the remarks during an episode of the Ndi Anambra podcast published by the state government’s New Media team.
He also said the Soludo administration had not taken fresh commercial bank loans since assuming office.
Peter Obi rejected the suggestion that he left Anambra with the liabilities being attributed to his administration and challenged the state government to produce evidence.
In an earlier response, Obi said he would stop campaigning for the presidency if the administration could establish that he had left the state with the debts in question.
The Anambra Government subsequently intensified its response.
Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation Law Mefor issued a statement titled “Gov Peter Obi and Record of Public Debt in Anambra: Facts Beyond Propaganda and Lies”, in which the government disputed Obi’s account of the state’s financial position when he left office.
Mefor said eight external loans associated with projects implemented during, or inherited by, Obi’s administration remained outstanding.
The state government put the combined balance at $92.35 million, which it valued at approximately ₦127.37 billion as of 30 June 2026.
The government’s account therefore presents a different picture from the 2014 handover document.
While Obi’s published document records a net positive balance after estimated immediate liabilities, the Soludo administration is pointing to longer-term loan obligations that it says remained attached to the state.
That distinction is central to the dispute.
A positive balance recorded in a handover statement does not, by itself, establish that no borrowing obligations existed under an administration.
Equally, the existence of loans still being serviced by a later administration does not, without further documentation, establish precisely when each liability was incurred, how much had been repaid by the date of handover, or which administration should be held responsible for the outstanding balance.
Historical records show that disagreements over the financial position Obi left behind are not new.
Obi handed over power to Willie Obiano on 17 March 2014 after eight years in office.
Contemporary reporting recorded competing claims about the state’s finances, including disputes over the amount of money and assets transferred to the incoming administration.
The handover document itself listed ₦27 billion in local investments, ₦26.5 billion in foreign currency investments, ₦28.17 billion in certified state and MDA balances, and a ₦10 billion federal government refund as part of the gross balance.
After deducting ₦5 billion in estimated liabilities covering March salaries, pensions, gratuities and approved certificates for completed projects, the document arrived at the ₦86.67 billion net figure.
The historical controversy later generated further competing accounts.
In 2015, former Governor Willie Obiano disputed claims that he had received the full amount publicly associated with Obi’s handover, while reports also highlighted inherited project commitments and other liabilities.
The latest exchange, however, centres on a more specific question: whether loans and other obligations now being serviced by Anambra can properly be attributed to Peter Obi’s administration and described as debts he left behind in March 2014.
The Soludo administration says the answer is yes, pointing to loan records and outstanding balances.
Obi’s camp, by publishing the handover statement, is asking the public to consider the financial position documented at the point he transferred power.
The figures also require careful treatment because the two sides are discussing different points in time.
Obi’s document records the state’s position in March 2014, while the ₦127.37 billion figure cited by the current administration represents outstanding external loan balances as of June 2026.
The difference in dates is significant when assessing the competing claims because loans can be repaid, restructured or remain outstanding for years after they are contracted.
The Anambra Government has also raised claims concerning domestic obligations, pensions and gratuities, broadening the dispute beyond the eight external loans cited in its latest statement.
For Obi, the publication of the handover document is also taking place against the backdrop of his 2027 presidential campaign.
He is now the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, making scrutiny of his record as Anambra governor particularly relevant to the political debate.
Neither the handover document nor the government’s current debt figures, considered separately, resolves every question surrounding the state’s historical finances.
Establishing responsibility for each liability requires examining the underlying loan agreements, disbursement records, repayment schedules and the state’s accounts at the time of the March 2014 handover.
For now, Peter Obi’s camp has placed the 2014 handover document at the centre of its defence, while the Soludo administration is relying on subsequent debt records to argue that financial obligations from earlier administrations remained active.
Also read: Anambra Challenges Obi Over N127.4bn Debt
The renewed dispute is therefore as much about the interpretation and timing of Anambra’s financial records as it is about the headline figures, with both sides presenting different documents and periods to support their positions.
