Obi’s Loans Still Being Deducted From Anambra Allocation – Commissioner

Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, has said deductions are still being made from the state’s monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) revenue to service loans linked to the administration of former Governor Peter Obi.

Mefor made the disclosure on Friday while appearing on Arise Television’s The Morning Show.

His comments came as the dispute over the financial position of Anambra at the end of Obi’s tenure continues to generate reactions from both sides.

The commissioner said the loans were not converted into grants simply because some of the facilities had Federal Government guarantees.

According to him, the obligations remained loans and must be repaid by the state.

“First and foremost, a loan is a loan, and whether it is sovereign or not, even an interest-free loan is still a loan. The FAAC allocations to Anambra State are being deducted every month to service the separate loans taken by the Peter Obi administration,” he said.

Mefor said the loans were part of eight external facilities associated with the former governor’s administration.

He explained that the facilities were obtained through different development programmes and guaranteed by the Federal Government.

He maintained that participating in such programmes was a decision available to the state government at the time.

The commissioner used the Nigeria CARES programme as an example of how a state could decide whether to participate in a borrowing arrangement.

Anambra Governor, Charles Soludo

He noted that the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo chose not to participate in the World Bank-backed Nigeria CARES loan.

According to him, this demonstrated that state governments could make decisions on whether to access certain facilities.

“So Obi had the opportunity to either take or not to take. So if you take, you take the responsibility,” Mefor said.

Obi governed Anambra from 2006 until March 2014, when he handed over to Willie Obiano.

The financial position of the state at the point of the handover has remained a subject of debate.

The Anambra Government has recently intensified its response to claims by Obi that he left the state without outstanding financial obligations.

Mefor said the eight external loans attributed to Obi’s administration had an original value of about $123.77 million.

He further said the outstanding balance of the facilities stood at about N127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026, based on figures the state attributed to the Debt Management Office.

The government has said the facilities covered projects in areas including malaria control, erosion management, education, healthcare, community development and agricultural development.

It also said subsequent administrations inherited the repayment obligations.

Mefor stressed that the argument was not necessarily about whether governments should borrow money to fund development.

Rather, he said the issue was whether Obi’s claim that his administration did not take loans was accurate.

“The point I’m trying to make is simple: he took loans, and he said he didn’t take,” he said.

The commissioner also disputed Obi’s position that he did not leave financial liabilities for the administration that succeeded him.

“And he said also that he did not pass down any financial liabilities that accrued from loans that he took. That is also not correct,” Mefor added.

Earlier in the week, Anambra Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, had also said the state was still repaying debts inherited from previous administrations.

Okafor specifically mentioned loans associated with the administrations of Obi and Obiano.

He said the deductions could be seen in the state’s monthly FAAC statements and maintained that the Soludo administration had not taken a commercial bank loan since coming into office.

Obi, however, has rejected the allegations.

The former governor recently challenged the state government to produce evidence showing that he left behind unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities, contractor debts or other obligations when he left office in 2014.

He said he was prepared to abandon his 2027 presidential campaign if the government could identify anyone he owed at the time he handed over power.

“I left office as Governor nearly 13 years ago. On the day I left office, I was not owing any salaries, pensions, gratuities or any money that the Anambra State Government was supposed to pay.

“I did not owe a single supplier or contractor. If you find even one person I owed, I will end my 2027 campaign today.”

His comments followed Okafor’s earlier disclosure that Anambra was still servicing inherited loans.

The state government has since released additional details to support its position.

According to Mefor, records cited by the government show that eight external borrowing facilities linked to Obi’s tenure remained outstanding after he left office.

The state has also said that the current administration continues to make payments towards the facilities.

Recall that Politics Nigeria previously reported Obi’s challenge to the Anambra Government to produce evidence of anyone he allegedly owed when he left office.

This came after the state said deductions were still being made from its monthly allocation to service loans inherited from previous administrations.

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