By Oscar Okhifo, Abuja
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has challenged former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi to honour his pledge to quit the 2027 presidential race if it is established that he left the state with outstanding financial liabilities.
Onanuga’s challenge followed fresh disclosures by the Anambra State Government on the financial obligations it said were incurred during Obi’s administration, including outstanding loans and liabilities relating to salaries, pensions and gratuities.
The presidential aide, in a post on X on Wednesday, recalled Obi’s recent challenge to the state government to prove that his administration left any unpaid debts when he handed over power in 2014.
“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.
He added: “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.
“The ball is back in his court. Will he follow through on his threat by quitting the race?”
The Anambra State Government, through its Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, has released records which it said showed that loans contracted during Obi’s tenure remained outstanding.
According to the state government, eight external loans amounting to $123.7 million were contracted between 2007 and 2013, with $92.35 million still outstanding as of June 30, 2026. The outstanding balance was put at about N127.37 billion based on the applicable exchange rate.
The government also alleged that the state had inherited unpaid salary, pension and gratuity obligations linked to previous administrations.
Obi, however, has rejected the allegations, describing them as false. He said his administration cleared more than N35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears and handed over Anambra without outstanding salary, pension or gratuity obligations. He also challenged the state government to provide evidence to the contrary, saying he would stop campaigning if it could establish that he left the state indebted.
The former governor has maintained that his administration left Anambra in a stronger financial position, while the state government has disputed that account.
The latest exchange has brought the financial record of Obi’s eight-year tenure back into the political debate ahead of the 2027 presidential election, in which he is a prominent opposition candidate.
As of press time, Obi had not publicly responded to Onanuga’s challenge.