Former Anambra State Governor and NDC presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has produced his 2024 handover document in the escalating dispute over the state’s inherited debts and financial obligations.
Obi’s camp released the document on Wednesday after the Anambra State Government accused the former governor of leaving behind outstanding loans and other liabilities for successive administrations to repay.
The handover note, dated March 17, 2024, contained a summary of the state government’s financial position at the end of Obi’s tenure and showed what his camp described as a net positive balance of more than ₦86 billion.
The document was made public by the Interim National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement worldwide, Yunusa Tanko, who challenged other former governors to similarly publish their handover documents.
“Let other Governors from 1999 till date have the courage to publish their handover notes to their successors as Peter Obi has done. Be accountable to the people,” Tanko said.
The development followed a fresh exchange between Obi and the Soludo administration over the financial obligations inherited by the current government.
Anambra Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, had said the state was still servicing loans inherited from previous administrations, including those associated with the Obi and Willie Obiano governments.
Okafor, however, said the Chukwuma Soludo administration had not taken fresh commercial bank loans since assuming office.
The Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, subsequently disputed Obi’s position that he left the state without outstanding financial obligations.
Mefor said eight external loans connected to projects implemented during or inherited by the Obi administration remained unpaid, putting the outstanding balance at $92.35 million, equivalent to about ₦127.37 billion, as of June 30, 2026.
The Anambra Government also maintained that some salaries, pensions, gratuities and other liabilities remained outstanding.
Obi has rejected the claims and previously challenged the state government to provide documentary evidence supporting its allegations, saying he would stop campaigning for the 2027 presidency if the debt claims could be established.
His latest response now puts the March 2024 handover document at the centre of the controversy.
The competing positions leave two distinct issues in dispute: the financial position recorded at the point Obi handed over power and the status and origin of loans and other obligations subsequently identified by the Soludo administration.
While Obi’s camp is relying on the handover document to demonstrate the financial position he says he left behind, the Anambra Government maintains that outstanding loans linked to previous administrations continued to burden the state.
The dispute comes as Obi, who governed Anambra from 2006 to 2013, campaigns for the presidency under the Nigeria Democratic Congress ahead of the 2027 election.
The release of the handover document is therefore likely to intensify scrutiny of the financial records of successive administrations in Anambra and the competing claims over who incurred, inherited or continued servicing particular obligations.
