The Anambra State Government has disputed former Governor Peter Obi’s claim that he left more than ₦2,130,000,000 in an ecological fund account when he handed over power in 2014.
The state government said the First Bank account cited by Obi was not an ecological fund account and, according to its records, never contained the amount claimed by the former governor.
The Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, disclosed this in a statement titled “Gov Peter Obi and Record of Public Debt in Anambra: Facts Beyond Propaganda and Lies.”
Mefor said the state government had obtained a certified statement of the First Bank account, numbered 2018779464, which Obi identified as the account where the ecological fund was kept.
According to the commissioner, the account was actually an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account, rather than an ecological fund account.
He further claimed that the account had never recorded an inflow or balance of ₦2,130,000,000 or any similar amount from the time it was opened in 2011 to date.
The government consequently challenged Obi to explain where the ₦2,130,000,000 he said was left for his successor was kept.
The dispute followed Obi’s rejection of claims by the Anambra Government that his administration left behind financial obligations, including an alleged ₦2,000,000,000 ecological loan, contractor liabilities, unpaid salaries, gratuities and pensions.
Obi had maintained that his administration cleared more than ₦35,000,000,000 in historical gratuities and arrears and left office without outstanding salaries, pensions or gratuities owed by the state.
He also said contractors whose projects had been completed and properly certified had been paid before his departure in March 2014.
On the ecological fund specifically, Obi said the Federal Government released the money approximately three months before the end of his tenure to address the erosion crisis in Oko and Umuchiana.
He said he resisted pressure to spend the money before leaving office because it had been earmarked for a specific project and should be available to the incoming administration.
According to Obi, the money was left untouched in a First Bank account with a balance of more than ₦2,130,000,000 at the time he handed over power to Willie Obiano.
He also stressed that the ecological fund was separate from the more than ₦75,000,000,000 in savings he said his administration left behind.
The Anambra Government, however, has challenged that account, saying its certified records do not support Obi’s description of the First Bank account or the amount he claimed was held there.
The commissioner also disputed Obi’s broader claim that his administration left the state without financial obligations.
Mefor said the current administration had cleared about ₦22,000,000,000 in inherited gratuity arrears but that some legacy obligations remained from previous administrations.
He also said eight external loans remained after Obi left office and that, as of June 30, 2026, their combined outstanding balance stood at ₦127,400,000,000 at the official exchange rate.
The loans listed by the government include projects under the Malaria Control Booster Project, Third National Fadama Development Project, Health System Development Project II, State Education Programme Investment Project, Community and Social Development Project, Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project and Value Chain Development Project.
The wider dispute comes after Anambra State Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, said the Soludo administration was still servicing loans obtained by previous administrations, including those of Obi and former Governor Willie Obiano.
Okafor said the Soludo administration had not borrowed from any commercial bank since taking office but had reduced the state’s overall debt burden by more than 83 per cent.
The disagreement over the ecological fund remains unresolved in the public statements from both sides, with Obi maintaining that the money was intact at handover while the state government says its records do not support his account.
The dispute could ultimately depend on the relevant banking, government and audit records from the period surrounding the March 2014 handover.
