The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi, has rejected claims that his administration left outstanding debts for the Anambra State Government to repay, saying he settled all obligations due before handing over power in 2014.

Obi made the clarification on Monday in a video from the Voice of Ndi Anambra Podcast circulated on social media, while responding to a claim by the state government that deductions from its monthly federal allocation were still being made to service loans incurred under previous administrations.

Anambra Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, had said on the podcast that the state was still servicing loans obtained during the administrations of Obi and his successor, Willie Obiano.

Obi, who governed Anambra from 2006 to 2014, disputed the claim. He said his administration did not leave unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities, or debts to suppliers and contractors whose claims had been properly processed.

“As at the day I left office, I was not owing any salary, pension, or gratuity that Anambra State Government is supposed to pay,” Obi said.

“I was not owing any supplier or contractor that had executed his job and his documents processed, not one. The day I left office, I paid what was due to be paid. I wasn’t owing any contractors.”

The former governor also addressed the issue of an ecological fund which he said was in a state government account when he left office.

Obi explained that the Federal Government had released the money about three months before the end of his administration for a specific erosion-control project.

“The day I left office, I had an account in the First Bank of Nigeria, a branch in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, an ecological fund account with a balance of about N2.1 billion,” he said.

According to him, the money was not included among funds left for general government expenditure because it was earmarked for a particular project.

He said members of his administration had suggested spending the money before his departure, but he rejected the proposal.

“My people were saying, ‘let’s expend this money’. But I kept telling them, government is a continuity and I want the person coming after me to succeed,” Obi said.

Obi challenged anyone disputing his account to produce evidence from bank records.

“I say it again, if you go to the account, I’m going to give you the account number. I have given you the bank and the branch. If you see anything contrary to the day I left office, I will stop campaigning,” he said.

The NDC candidate also spoke on the political support being mobilized for President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Obi said state governors had the right to support whichever candidate they preferred. He specifically mentioned Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra and other governors.

“It’s about over 30 governors today supporting the president. And it is politics and their rights to support whoever they want,” Obi said.

He added that he was not asking governors to support him, but was only demanding that the 2027 election be conducted freely and fairly.

“I’m not urging them to support me. I am only urging them to allow free, fair and credible elections. I’m talking to the people because they have only one vote,” he said.

Obi said the outcome of the election should be determined by voters, recalling that he contested the 2023 presidential election without having councillors or other elected officials in power.

“Today, it is still the same case. The only thing is I am campaigning to be the president of Nigeria,” he said.

“But it is the people of Nigeria that will decide, not the governors, unless they’re going to write the results or rig the election, which is what I’m preaching against. Let it be a free, fair and credible election. Whatever the people decide, I will respect it.”

The exchange comes amid renewed debate over Anambra’s debt profile.

The Soludo administration has said it is still servicing loans incurred under previous governments, including those of Obi and Obiano, while also noting that it has reduced overall state debt by more than 83 percent and cleared legacy domestic obligations.

Obi has consistently said he did not borrow during his tenure and left money in state coffers.

With the 2027 elections approaching, issues of governance record, fiscal management and transparency are expected to feature prominently in political discourse.

Obi said his focus remains on asking Nigerians to judge candidates based on track record and to insist on credible elections.