Precious Nwonu, Enugu
The Anambra State Government has challenged former Governor Peter Obi’s claim that he left more than ₦2.13bn in an ecological fund account when he handed over power in 2014.
The government said records from First Bank showed that the account identified by Obi was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account and not an account specifically designated for ecological funds.
The Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday in response to Obi’s recent comments on the state’s finances.
Mefor said the government had obtained a certified printout of First Bank account number 2018779464, which Obi identified as the account where he left the ecological funds.
According to him, the records covering the account from its opening in 2011 to the present did not show any transaction or balance corresponding to the ₦2.13bn claimed by the former governor.
“We have obtained a certified printout of the account from inception to date. The account is an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account, not an ecological fund account,” Mefor said.
“From 2011 when the account was opened until date, there has never been any such amount, whether as inflow or balance, in the account.”
The commissioner consequently asked Obi to explain where the money he said he left for his successor was kept.
The dispute followed Obi’s rejection of claims by the state government that his administration left behind financial obligations, including an ecological-related loan, contractor liabilities and arrears involving salaries, pensions and gratuities.
Obi had maintained that his administration cleared more than ₦35bn in historical gratuity and salary arrears and handed over the state without outstanding obligations to workers or contractors for completed and certified projects.
On the ecological fund, the former governor said the money was released shortly before the end of his tenure to address the erosion crisis in Oko and Umuchiana.
He said he deliberately left the funds untouched for the incoming administration because the money was tied to a specific project.
Obi also said more than ₦2.13bn remained intact in the First Bank account at the time he left office.
The former governor had challenged anyone disputing his account of the fund to provide evidence to the contrary.
“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” Obi said.
However, Mefor expanded the state government’s response beyond the disputed ecological fund, saying eight external loans remained outstanding after Obi left office on March 17, 2014.
He said the outstanding balance of the loans stood at ₦127.4bn as of June 30, 2026, based on the official exchange rate.
The loans listed by the government were connected to projects including malaria control, agricultural development, health system development, education, community development, erosion management and value-chain development.
Mefor also disputed Obi’s claim that his administration left office without unpaid salaries, gratuities and pensions.
He said the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo had cleared about ₦22bn in inherited gratuity arrears, while alleging that some liabilities from the Obi administration and earlier governments remained.
The commissioner cited arrears involving retired teachers and workers of the state Water Corporation.
He said salary arrears owed to Water Corporation workers continued through the Obi administration and were eventually settled under the Soludo government, with two of three instalments already paid.
Mefor further alleged that the Obi administration had verified and certified 16 months of salary arrears for primary school teachers but paid only five months.
“The Obi administration verified/certified 16 months of salary arrears for primary school teachers but paid only five months,” he said.
The commissioner also questioned Obi’s claim that his administration left more than ₦75bn in savings.
“We will not engage in nebulous creative accounting. If there were ₦75 billion in savings, as claimed, where are the records?” Mefor asked.