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The Presidency has weighed in on the escalating exchange between former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, and the current state administration over the state’s financial records, daring the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate to honor his pledge to withdraw from the 2027 presidential contest.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, issued the challenge on Wednesday via a post on X.
He recalled that Obi had previously insisted he left office with a clean debt record and promised to abandon his campaign if proved wrong.
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.
Pointing to recent statements released by the state government detailing liabilities allegedly linked to Obi’s tenure, Onanuga asserted that the former governor’s narrative had been fundamentally challenged.
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 presidential aide stated.
The ball is back in his court. Will he follow through on his threat by quitting the race?
Onanuga asked.
The Presidency’s intervention comes after the Anambra State Government, through its Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Law Mefor, countered Obi’s assertion that he left behind over ₦2.13 billion in a First Bank account for ecological intervention in Oko and Umuchiana.
Mefor clarified that certified bank records revealed the account referenced by Obi was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account rather than a dedicated ecological fund. He added that records from 2011 to date showed no record of such balance or inflow.
Obi had earlier reiterated his standing pledge during a public address, stating, If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning.
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