The dispute between former Governor Peter Obi and the current Anambra State administration escalated further Saturday as the state government published approval documents detailing N363.38 million in salary arrears paid to workers and retirees of defunct state agencies.
The release of the internal memo, dated May 24, 2025, follows Obi’s repeated assertions that his eight-year tenure, which ended on March 17, 2014, left office without outstanding debt, unpaid salaries, pensions, or certified contractor obligations.
Published by the Anambra State New Media Office, the document details the approval of the second tranche of payments under a February 2024 out-of-court settlement with the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical and Recreational Services Employees.
The funds cover longstanding entitlements for staff, pensioners, and next-of-kin of the defunct Anambra State Water Corporation and the Anambra State Environmental Protection Agency (ANSEPA).
Accompanying the release of the correspondence signed by former Head of Service, Theodora Igwegbe, state officials accused the former presidential candidate of misrepresenting his financial record while in office.
In a statement posted via its official new media channels, the state government insisted the document provides concrete proof that labor obligations went unpaid under Obi’s leadership.
“The Soludo administration paid the first tranche of State workers’ entitlements—entitlements Peter Obi left unpaid during his eight years as governor,” the Anambra State New Media Office stated. “Gov Soludo has now, also, paid the second. Peter Obi knows we know he’s lying.”
The memo addressed to Governor Chukwuma Soludo highlights that the disbursement was structured to fulfill statutory commitments and resolve lingering labor disputes.
“That the agreed second tranche payment of Three Hundred and Sixty-Three Million, Three Hundred and Eighty-One Naira only (N363,381,000.00) is due for disbursement in line with the Terms of Settlement signed on 6th February 2024,” the Head of Service wrote in the memo, adding that the payment would “further reinforce your administration’s commitment to social justice, workers’ welfare, and adherence to agreements reached with organised labour.”
The dispute intensified earlier this month when the State Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Law Mefor, released Debt Management Office (DMO) records showing $123.77 million in external loans contracted during the Obi administration, with a remaining balance of N127.4 billion being serviced by the current government.
“So, Your Excellency, you owed salaries, pensions and gratuities. Many of these people are still alive and can testify,” Mefor said in an earlier state briefing.
“It is not good to speak loudly without facts or with fabricated figures… you owed many, not one, and those debts are yet to be fully cleared even today!”
Obi defends his tenure
Responding to the allegations, Obi maintained that his administration operated with financial discipline, leaving behind billions of Naira in state accounts and no verified unpaid liabilities.
Speaking on the dispute over contractor debts and state borrowings, Obi challenged critics to point to any certified, executed contract left unpaid when he handed over power in March 2014.
“We were not owing any contractor or supplier who executed his job, certified and verified—not one,” Obi stated during a public presentation of his handover report.
Addressing the claims regarding external loans and bank facilities, the former governor argued that unutilised or earmarked facilities should not be conflated with consumed public debt.
“Even if I had gone to a bank and borrowed money—even if I had gone to a bank and borrowed money, but I did not spend the money, you cannot call it debt I left,” Obi clarified.
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