The Anambra State Government has accused former governor and 2027 presidential candidate Peter Obi of leaving unpaid salaries and pension arrears owed to workers of the state’s defunct Water Corporation.
The allegation was made on the state government’s New Media X handle, alongside a video showing people protesting over alleged unpaid entitlements.
The claim comes days after Obi insisted that he left office without outstanding salary, pension or gratuity liabilities.
Obi had challenged the Anambra government to prove otherwise, saying he would stop campaigning for the 2027 presidency if anyone could establish that he left such debts.
“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” Obi said.
Anambra Government Accuses Obi
In its latest post, the state government said former Water Corporation workers had protested over unpaid entitlements which, according to the government, had remained unresolved.
The government alleged that records and testimonies from affected workers contradicted Obi’s claim that he left Anambra without outstanding obligations.
The video shared by the government showed protesters carrying placards with messages including “Pay us our money”.
One protester accused the Obi administration of failing to rehabilitate the state’s water system and pay salary and pension arrears allegedly owed to workers.
The protester also referred to alleged arrears of salaries and 62 months of pensions.
The claims have not been independently established by the available reports and remain disputed by Obi.
Obi Disputes Anambra’s Claims
Obi has consistently rejected the Anambra government’s allegations, maintaining that his administration cleared more than N35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears.
He said he handed over the state without outstanding salary, pension or gratuity obligations and maintained that contractors whose work had been executed and certified were also not owed.
The former governor has challenged the state government to produce evidence to support its claims.
Wider Obi-Soludo Debt Dispute
The latest allegation is part of a wider dispute between the Anambra government under Governor Chukwuma Soludo and Obi over the financial obligations inherited by successive administrations.
Anambra Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, had said the state was still servicing loans obtained by previous administrations, including those of Obi and Willie Obiano.
The state government subsequently released what it described as public debt records from the Debt Management Office, saying eight external loan obligations linked to the period remained outstanding.
Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, said the outstanding balance of the loans stood at about N127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026.
The government also alleged that legacy liabilities involving retired teachers and former Water Corporation workers remained outstanding.
Mefor said the Soludo administration had cleared about N22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears owed to retired state and local government employees and teachers, while some liabilities remained under settlement.
The government further said salary arrears involving former Water Corporation workers had resulted in court processes and that the current administration had negotiated a settlement, with two instalments already paid under a three-instalment arrangement.
Political Dispute Continues
Obi has continued to reject the government’s account of the liabilities, insisting that he left Anambra without outstanding salary, pension, gratuity or contractor obligations.
The dispute comes as Soludo, who governs Anambra under the All Progressives Grand Alliance, has declared support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in the 2027 presidential election.
The competing accounts over Anambra’s finances have therefore become part of a broader political dispute ahead of the 2027 election.
