The Anambra State Government has said deductions are still being made from the state’s monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) revenue to service loans it attributed to the administration of former Governor Peter Obi.
The Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, made the disclosure on Friday during an appearance on Arise Television’s The Morning Show, amid an ongoing dispute over the financial records of Obi’s tenure as governor.
Mefor argued that loans guaranteed by the Federal Government remained repayable obligations and should not be regarded as grants or non-recoverable funds.
“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.
According to the commissioner, the loans were among eight external facilities guaranteed by the Federal Government, with states having the option of participating in the various lending programmes.
He cited Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s decision not to participate in the Nigeria CARES programme funded by the World Bank as an example of a state government choosing whether to access such facilities.
“So Obi had the opportunity to either take or not to take. So if you take, you take the responsibility,” Mefor said.
He put the total value of the external facilities attributed to the Obi administration at $123 million, arguing that the outstanding obligations should be considered when assessing the former governor’s financial record.
Mefor stressed that the issue was not whether borrowing was inherently wrong, but whether Obi’s assertion that he did not take loans while in office 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 claim that he left no financial liabilities for his successor when he handed over power in 2014.
“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.
The latest exchange follows Obi’s denial that he left Anambra with outstanding debts, unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities or obligations to contractors at the end of his tenure.
The Anambra State Government has maintained that records from the Debt Management Office (DMO) show that eight external loans were contracted during Obi’s administration, with the outstanding balance put at approximately N127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026.
Obi has challenged the state government to produce evidence to contradict his account. He said he would stop campaigning for the 2027 presidential election if the government could establish that he left Anambra in debt.
