The Anambra State Government has responded to Peter Obi's claim of saving $150 million during his tenure as governor from 2006 to 2014. According to Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, although the state government is not disputing the $150 million savings, Obi showed a lack of understanding of the purpose of government. Mefor stated that the government exists to improve the security and welfare of the people, not to save money and earn interest.
Mefor argued that it did not make social or economic sense for Obi's administration to collect taxes from impoverished residents and save them in bank accounts for interest while millions of residents were in dire poverty with rising insecurity and decayed infrastructure. He claimed that under Obi, Anambra State had no pipe-borne water, no power plant, no airport, no government house/lodge, and over 900 active gully erosion sites. Mefor stated that a cleverly targeted investment of the so-called 'savings' in human capital and infrastructure would have had higher social and economic rates of return.
The commissioner further claimed that Obi, in an interview, blamed his successor, Willie Obiano, for spending the funds instead of leaving them to earn bank interest. However, a review of the interview showed that Obi did not specifically say Obiano spent the funds. Obi had said that if successive administrations had kept the money and used the income to pay the loan, they would have finished paying it with the capital, $150 million still remaining, and still giving Anambra State $10 million annually.
Mefor insisted that despite Obi's denial, his administration took eight external loans between 2007 and 2013, amounting to $123.7 million, with $92.35 million remaining outstanding as of June 30, 2026. The commissioner disputed details of financial statements in Obi's handover letter, claiming that the asset part of the financial statement presented funds for incoming administrations, including valuations for abandoned and uncompleted projects, but deceptively hid the liabilities.
Mefor challenged Obi on his claim of leaving N2.13 billion Ecological Funds in the state's treasury, asking the former governor to provide details on where the funds were lodged. Obi had claimed that the funds, which were for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis, were kept in a First Bank account for the then-incoming government of Obiano. However, Mefor stressed that the account mentioned was not an ecological funds account but an Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) account, and it did not contain the N2.13 billion either as inflow or existing balance.
The commissioner said that the bank, in its letter of September 16, 2026, confirmed that the balance on that IGR account, as of March 17, 2014, when Obi left office, was not close to N2 billion. Mefor stated that the state government was still interested in knowing the whereabouts of the funds, adding that the question of where the money is or if it is actually missing remains unanswered.
The state of Anambra's finances has long been a subject of debate, and the issue resurfaced recently when the Commissioner for Finance in the state, Izuchukwu Okafor, claimed that Governor Soludo's administration was still repaying loans and other debts incurred by Obi and other past governors of the state. Obi had responded, saying he did not incur any debt as governor but rather saved over N75 billion in the state's account.
Key points
- The Anambra State Government disputes Peter Obi's claim of saving $150 million during his tenure as governor.
- The government argues that Obi's administration should have used the funds for developmental projects instead of saving them.
- The state government also disputes Obi's claim of leaving N2.13 billion Ecological Funds in the state's treasury.
