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The Anambra State Government has stated that the 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, does not deserve praise despite saving $150 million in the state’s treasury before completing his tenure as governor in 2014.
The Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, made the assertion in a statement released on Saturday, reacting to claims made by Obi during a recent interview on Arise News. Obi served as governor of Anambra State from 2006 to 2014.
In the statement, Mefor noted that while the state government is not disputing the $150 million savings figure, the former governor demonstrated “an uncomfortable lack of understanding of the purpose of government.”
The commissioner argued that funds should have been deployed toward critical infrastructure and public welfare rather than being left in financial institutions.
“(The) government exists to improve the security and welfare of the people, and not to save money and earn interest. It will be an irresponsible and incompetent government that will be taxing even poor market women and saving the same in banks to earn interest, including in a bank in which the governor has interest, while millions of its people are falling into poverty and insecurity,” he stated.
Mefor maintained that it made no “social or economic sense” to collect taxes from “impoverished residents” and keep them in bank accounts for interest while citizens faced “dire poverty with rising insecurity, decayed infrastructure, literally dead public health and public educational systems.”
He further claimed that under Obi’s administration, Anambra State had “no pipe-borne water, no power plant, no airport, no government house/lodge, with over 900 active gully erosion sites.”
“One argument is that for an underdeveloped society such as ours, a cleverly targeted investment of the so-called ‘savings’ in human capital and infrastructure that ratchets productivity has much higher social and economic rates of return than the miniscule financial returns – ‘interest income’ – thrown up by Obi during his interview,” the commissioner said.
He contended that making such savings in the midst of “acute misery” might “garner transient emotional applause” but was “certainly an unfortunate economic argument.”
Mefor also claimed that Obi used the interview to criticize his successor, Willie Obiano, for spending the savings “instead of leaving them to earn bank interest.”
“Well, his successor spent the money and millions of people that his (Obi’s) government threw into poverty were pulled out of poverty and insecurity significantly improved until the ‘unknown gunmen’ unleashed terror in the South-east from 2021,” Mefor added, noting that Obiano utilized the funds for projects including an international airport.
However, a review of the interview transcript reveals that Obi did not explicitly state that his successor spent the funds.
“If they (successive administrations) just kept that money ($150m) that I left and was using the income to pay the loan, they would have finished paying it (the alleged debt) now with the capital, $150 million still remaining, and still giving Anambra State $10 million annually,” Obi had stated during the broadcast.
Mefor maintained that Obi’s administration contracted eight external loans between 2007 and 2013 totaling $123.7 million, with $92.35 million remaining outstanding as of June 30, 2026.
The commissioner also disputed the financial records in Obi’s handover note, alleging that while assets and uncompleted project valuations were featured prominently, liabilities were omitted.
“Curiously, the Handover Note never mentioned that his government had awarded and signed valid contracts for 101 roads, totalling 779 kilometres and outstanding liabilities on them of N127 billion as at that date,” Mefor said.
He added that an asset entry of N10 billion listed as an “approved refund” from the federal government “was not received before he (Mr Obi) left office and no one is sure that the ‘approved refund’ ever came.”
“The same bogus net balances included balances in MDAs’ accounts – largely monies that were already expended from the consolidated revenue fund or not available for spending,” he stated.
Addressing Obi’s claims regarding N2.13 billion in Ecological Funds left for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis, Mefor challenged the former governor to clarify the location of the money.
Obi had previously stated the funds were deposited in First Bank account number 2018779464 for the incoming Obiano administration.
Mefor countered that official records show the cited First Bank account was an Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) account rather than an ecological fund repository, adding that it never held N2.13 billion during its operation.
“This is in line with the bank statement we obtained from the bank,” Mefor said, noting that a bank letter dated September 16, 2026, confirmed the balance as of March 17, 2014, “was not close to N2 billion.”
“Since the money is not in the First Bank account as claimed, where is it? Or is the money actually missing? This question remains unanswered,” the commissioner concluded.
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