The escalating war of words between Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, and former governor Peter Obi over the state’s debt profile has taken a fresh political dimension, with a public affairs analyst questioning the timing of the governor’s renewed criticism.
Analyst Donald Okwuosa, in an interview with the media, said the controversy over Obi’s financial record could have been handled as a straightforward matter of public accountability, but the timing has fuelled speculation that the 2027 presidential election is influencing the dispute.
The controversy centres on eight external financing facilities linked to projects implemented during Obi’s tenure as governor.
The Anambra government says the facilities had a combined original value of $123.77 million, with $92.35 million outstanding as of June 30, 2026, equivalent to about ₦127.4 billion at the prevailing official exchange rate.
Obi, however, has rejected the characterisation of the facilities as conventional loans personally contracted by his administration.
He argued that the facilities were primarily World Bank and International Fund for Agricultural Development programmes negotiated by the Federal Government and accessed by states through subsidiary arrangements. He also questioned the government’s decision to combine approved amounts, funds actually drawn and outstanding balances.
Obi further cited Debt Management Office figures which, according to him, showed Anambra’s external debt at about $18 million in March 2006, rising to roughly $30 million by March 2014, when he left office.
Okwuosa said the Soludo administration should publish the DMO debt position as it stood when Obi handed over power on March 17, 2014, arguing that relying primarily on present-day naira valuations could obscure the actual position at the time of handover.
The analyst also acknowledged Soludo’s own claim to have substantially reduced Anambra’s debt, saying the governor could defend his fiscal record without necessarily making Obi the centre of the argument.
The political undertone, however, remains difficult to ignore.
Okwuosa linked Soludo’s posture to the 2023 presidential election and the governor’s previously expressed view that votes for Obi did not deliver sufficient federal benefits to the South-East.
He said the latest exchange risks turning a legitimate debate over public finance into what some observers may interpret as an attempt to damage Obi’s reputation ahead of 2027.
Obi has meanwhile denied having any quarrel with Soludo and urged politicians to concentrate on Nigeria’s economic difficulties rather than political distractions.
For now, the central question remains unresolved: Was the controversy triggered by a genuine attempt to clarify Anambra’s financial history, or has an old debt ledger become a new battlefield ahead of 2027?
The answer may ultimately depend on the complete DMO records from the point of Obi’s handover and a transparent reconciliation of the figures being cited by both sides.
