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A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kenneth Okonkwo, has stated that he was misled when he previously defended former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi against claims that his administration left behind financial liabilities and debt.
Okonkwo, who served as Obi’s spokesperson during the 2023 presidential campaign, explained that he could no longer maintain those claims following recent disclosures made by the Anambra State Government.
Speaking on TVC’s Sunday Politics program, Okonkwo—now serving as spokesperson for the presidential campaign council of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the ADC presidential candidate for the 2027 election—emphasized his willingness to adjust his stance when presented with fresh evidence.
“You know me, I’m a very passionate person in whatever I believe in. Let me tell you because I was misled,” he said.
He recalled asserting during the 2023 campaign that Obi left office without owing any debts, salaries, pensions, or gratuities.
“There was a time I told Nigerians that Peter Obi was not owing anything, did not leave any debt, he was not owing any salary. No gratuity. No pension. And I said, go and verify. I’m not a man that stands on my own misunderstanding. When I see the facts, I agree,” Okonkwo stated.
He cited subsequent disclosures by the Anambra State Government alleging that Obi’s administration obtained eight loans and left salary arrears at the state-owned water corporation.
“The fact is Anambra State Government said he borrowed eight loans. The fact is that Anambra State said that at the water corporation, he was owing workers there, all the salaries, all the arrears. I cannot say the same thing that I said about Peter Obi in 2023,” he added.
The remarks follow an ongoing dispute between Obi and the Anambra State Government regarding the state’s inherited debt profile.
The debate was triggered by statements from the Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, who noted that the state continues to service loans incurred by previous administrations, including those of Obi and former Governor Willie Obiano.
Although Obi denied the claims—insisting he left office without debts, owed no salaries or contractors, and left N2.1 billion in an ecological fund—the state government disputed his position.
Official responses from the government asserted that Obi left $123.77 million in debt, found no record of the cited ecological fund, and released documents detailing N363.38 million in inherited salary arrears.
Okonkwo also revisited a past television appearance where he defended the Obi family while criticizing the reported price of a wristwatch worn by a son of President Bola Tinubu.
“There was a time they figured out that Tinubu’s son was wearing a watch worth up to N135 million,” Okonkwo recalled. “I ran out on television and I said nobody from Peter Obi’s family can ever wear such a thing when people are dying in poverty. I stuck my reputation on it. Can I still say that today?”
Looking ahead to the 2027 general elections, Okonkwo stated that his analytical approach to evaluating political candidates would shift significantly.
“That’s why I said in 2023, I campaigned for them as the examination in chief. In 2027, it’s going to be a cross-examination,” he said.
Obi served as governor of Anambra State from March 2006 to March 2014, with his first term briefly interrupted by an impeachment in November 2006 that was later overturned by the courts.
He handed over to Willie Obiano on March 17, 2014.
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