APC Campaign Council Challenges Obi To Honour Pledge Over Anambra Debt Claims

The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC) has called on Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate Peter Obi to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race if claims of financial liabilities linked to his tenure as Anambra State governor are established.

The call followed a fresh dispute between Obi and the Anambra State Government over loans and other liabilities allegedly incurred during his administration.

In a statement issued on Monday and signed by its spokesperson, Dele Alake, the APC-PCC said recent figures released by the Anambra government contradicted Obi’s claims that he left office without outstanding financial obligations.

The state government said eight external loan facilities contracted during Obi’s tenure totalled $123.77 million, with about $92.35 million still outstanding as of June 30, 2026. The loans were linked to projects covering healthcare, education, malaria control, erosion management and other development programmes.

The APC-PCC argued that Obi should honour a pledge he made earlier this month to stop campaigning for the presidency if it could be established that his administration left debts or other liabilities behind.

“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” Obi had said while challenging the Anambra government to provide evidence of unpaid debts.

Alake subsequently urged Obi to act on that commitment, saying, “If Peter Obi has any honour, he must resign from the 2027 presidential race forthwith,” according to the campaign council.

The APC-PCC also cited an April 2006 memorandum concerning salary obligations to workers of the Anambra State Water Corporation, arguing that it contradicted claims that workers were paid as and when due. The council said the memo appealed for approval of monthly salary payments to prevent protests over unpaid wages.

Obi has rejected the allegations, maintaining that his administration cleared more than N35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears and left office without outstanding salaries, pensions, gratuities or liabilities to contractors for duly executed and certified projects.

He has also disputed the state government’s claims concerning a N2 billion ecological fund, saying the money was left untouched for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion project.

The controversy remains centred on competing accounts of the financial obligations inherited by successive Anambra administrations, with Obi maintaining that documentary evidence should be provided to substantiate the allegations against his administration.