…Admits ₦12bn Debt Remained
The controversy over Anambra State’s debt profile under former governors Peter Obi and Willie Obiano and incumbent Governor Chukwuma Soludo has deepened, with the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (InterSociety) disputing competing accounts of the state’s finances.
In a statement issued on 22 September, InterSociety said the controversy should be settled through financial records rather than political claims.
The organization’s statement comes days after the Anambra State Government released records, which it said showed that eight external loan facilities associated with projects undertaken during Peter Obi’s tenure remained outstanding.
According to InterSociety, Obi inherited ₦13.8 billion in cash when he assumed office in March 2006 following the exit of former Governor Chris Ngige.
The organization said Obi initially challenged the reported existence of the funds and subsequently constituted the Justice Ononiba Panel to investigate the state’s financial position.
According to InterSociety, the panel confirmed the existence of the ₦13.8 billion but also found that the state had substantial uncleared contractual obligations and salary-related liabilities involving serving and retired public workers. Those obligations, the organization said, ran into tens of billions of naira and were separate from statutory domestic and foreign debts.
InterSociety said the larger public-debt burden had been accumulated principally during the administration of former Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju, with some additional liabilities incurred under Ngige. It said the inherited obligations included internally and externally borrowed funds, including facilities linked to irrevocable standing-order arrangements under the Mbadinuju administration.
The organization maintains that Obi adopted a policy of not taking new local or foreign loans throughout his tenure. Rather, it said, his administration relied heavily on counterpart funding arrangements, international grants and credit facilities from development partners, as well as participation in Federal Government counterpart-funded projects, foreign investments and public-private partnerships.
InterSociety also said that although Obi’s internally generated revenue record was “very unimpressive”, his administration deployed local government allocations to strategic infrastructure, including roads, hospitals, and schools. It said the administration used what it described as a “complete, get paid and continue next phase” approach to road and social-service projects.
According to the organization, Obi’s administration subsequently liquidated most of the inherited local and foreign debts, contractual obligations, and salary-related liabilities, including more than ₦25 billion in inherited pensions and gratuities. It also cited the introduction of a motorization scheme for senior state officials during Obi’s administration.
InterSociety acknowledged that Anambra still had formal public debt when Obi left office. Citing Debt Management Office (DMO) figures, it put the March 2014 domestic debt at about ₦3.03 billion and external debt at $30.32 million, valued at roughly ₦7.9 billion, using the exchange rate of roughly ₦200 to the dollar at the time.
It further said that the state’s domestic debt had fallen dramatically from about ₦14.2 billion in December 2012 to ₦3.02 billion by March 2014, while foreign debt increased from about $26.7 million to $45.15 million according to the particular DMO figures and reporting periods cited by the organization.
InterSociety also cited DMO figures showing foreign debt of $45.15 million and domestic debt of ₦2.87 billion in the subsequent 2014/2015 reporting periods, yielding a combined historical figure of approximately ₦12.07 billion at the then-applicable exchange rate.
The organization stressed that the naira value of dollar-denominated debt would have risen sharply due to naira depreciation. It is estimated that the dollar component of $45.15 million, if it had remained unpaid, would be worth about ₦70 billion at current exchange rates, and approximately ₦75 billion when the cited ₦2.87 billion domestic debt was added.
According to the group, Obi substantially reduced inherited liabilities and left between ₦85 billion and ₦95 billion in cash and investments, including ₦27.2 billion in local investments, $155.48 million in foreign-currency investments, and ₦41.48 billion in cash in government accounts.
Anambra Government’s $123.77m claim
The Soludo administration’s account is substantially different.
Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, said records released by the state showed that eight external loan facilities associated with projects during Obi’s administration were contracted between 2007 and 2013.
The facilities, according to the government, included financing for malaria control, agriculture, healthcare, education, community development and erosion management. The government put its aggregate original value at $123.77 million, with an outstanding balance of $92.35 million as of June 30, 2026.
Among the projects cited were the Malaria Control Booster Project, Third National Fadama Development Project, Health System Development Project II, State Education Program Investment Project, Community and Social Development Project, Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project, and Value Chain Development Project.
The state said the outstanding balance was approximately ₦127.37 billion and that subsequent administrations, including Soludo’s, had continued servicing the obligations.
Mefor also disputed Obi’s claim that he left the state without salary, pension and gratuity arrears, saying some inherited liabilities remained after Obi left office.
The government specifically cited arrears involving workers of the former Anambra State Water Corporation and claimed that the Soludo administration had negotiated a settlement and paid the first two installments of a three-installment agreement.
It also alleged that arrears owed to primary-school teachers under the local-government system from the Mbadinuju era had not been completely cleared by Obi.
According to the government, Obi paid five months out of 16 months of salary arrears it said had been inherited.
Obi has rejected the allegation, insisting that he left office on March 17, 2014, without outstanding salary, pension, gratuity, or certified contractor obligations. He has challenged the Soludo administration to produce evidence to the contrary and said he would discontinue his 2027 presidential campaign if it could establish that he owed anybody when he left office.
InterSociety’s assessment of the Obiano government
InterSociety’s statement also addresses the eight-year administration of Willie Obiano, which succeeded Obi in March 2014.
The organization alleged that Obiano left behind a substantial accumulation of domestic and foreign debts, contractors’ liabilities and obligations to serving and retired workers.
It singled out what it described as a wave of large road contracts awarded during the 2017 election season.
According to InterSociety, some of the contracts involved mobilization payments and instructions for contractors to move to the site, but several projects were allegedly left incomplete after Obiano secured his second term.
The organization said billions of naira spent on earthworks remained unpaid and were eventually inherited by the Soludo administration.
InterSociety also attributed additional local and foreign borrowing to the Obiano administration.
It cited a ₦10 billion CBN Infrastructure Development Facility reportedly secured in November 2015, which it said was structured for repayment over 20 years through an irrevocable payment standing order, including deductions at source from the Federation Account.
The organization put the total repayment, including interest, at about ₦21.9 billion, comprising the ₦10 billion principal and approximately ₦11.9 billion in interest.
It also alleged that the Obiano administration considered raising a further ₦50 billion bond from local sources.
Soludo’s borrowing record
InterSociety acknowledges a significant aspect of Soludo’s financial policy: his administration’s publicly stated decision not to pursue serial borrowing.
In August 2026, Soludo said his administration had not borrowed any money since assuming office, although he declined to promise that it would never borrow in the future.
In 2022, however, the Anambra State House of Assembly approved Soludo’s request for authority to access ₦100 billion in loan facilities for infrastructure development.
The approval was for a Global Limit Multiple Term Loan Facility, with the Assembly saying the funds were intended for roads, bridges and flyovers and recommending that any borrowing be tied to feasible infrastructure projects and single-digit interest rates.
Soludo subsequently said his administration had not drawn down the approved facility. In a second-year anniversary presentation, the state government said the Assembly had approved ₦100 billion in 2022 but that the administration had “refused to borrow one kobo” from it.
The government’s 2026 budget presentation similarly stated that the administration had not borrowed to finance budget deficits and would only consider concessionary borrowing tied to bankable projects.
Nevertheless, InterSociety questioned why the State House of Assembly had not formally canceled the ₦100 billion authorization after Soludo reportedly backed away from drawing the facility.
The organization urged the Assembly to formally cancel the authorization if the facility had been abandoned and to eliminate the possibility of its later access without adequate public knowledge.
InterSociety questions Soludo’s transparency
Despite acknowledging Soludo’s stated restraint on borrowing, InterSociety accused his administration of inadequate fiscal transparency.
It alleged that the government had not publicly presented comprehensive annual statements of account since taking office in March 2022, covering internally generated revenue, Federation Account receipts, contractual obligations, salary, pension and gratuity liabilities, capital receipts, loans and credit facilities, and budgetary surpluses or deficits.
The organisation said the presentation of annual budget estimates alone was insufficient to demonstrate fiscal accountability, arguing that supplementary budgets and other financial statements should also be made available to the public.
Group faults Soludo, Obi over handling of debt controversy
InterSociety accused Soludo of reviving the issue of Obi’s financial record for political reasons and described the attempt to tarnish Obi’s administration as misguided.
The organization argued that Obi’s record should be assessed against the condition of the state he inherited and the financial position he handed over, rather than through what it called the “murky waters” of Nigerian politics.
At the same time, it criticized Obi’s own response to the allegations.
InterSociety said Obi would have been better served by making a narrowly worded distinction between not taking new loans during his tenure and not leaving any public debt whatsoever.
It specifically criticised his assertion that his administration did not leave any debt and his pledge to withdraw from the 2027 presidential contest if it was established that his administration owed anybody.
According to InterSociety, a more precise response would have been that the Obi administration did not contract new loans and liquidated most of the inherited domestic and foreign debts, contractual obligations, and workforce liabilities, while acknowledging any outstanding statutory debt.
The group said the competing claims should ultimately be tested against DMO records, loan agreements, bank statements, audited accounts, project records, and handover documents to establish precisely what each administration inherited, borrowed, repaid, and left outstanding.
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