Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has rejected claims by Governor Chukwuma Soludo that his administration left behind a ₦2 billion ecological loan, contractor debts and unpaid salaries, gratuities and pensions.
Soludo’s administration had alleged that it inherited significant financial obligations from previous governments, including liabilities linked to erosion- control projects and unpaid entitlements.
But Obi, in a statement posted on X, described the allegations as “completely false,” insisting that his administration cleared more than ₦35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears.
He said Anambra owed nothing in salaries, gratuities or pensions when he handed over power, adding that contractors whose projects had been properly executed and certified had also been paid.
On the ₦2 billion ecological fund, Obi said the money was released about three months before the end of his tenure to address the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.
He said he declined to spend it, choosing instead to leave it for his successor because it was tied to a specific project.
According to Obi, the funds remained intact in a First Bank account with a balance of more than ₦2.13 billion.
He added that project-specific funds were excluded from the more than ₦75 billion in savings he claimed his administration left behind. “If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” Obi said.
The competing claims have not been independently verified, and the Soludo administration had yet to publicly respond to Obi’s latest statement.
