Anambra Releases ₦473m Salary Arrears Document as Obi’s Debt Claim Sparks Fresh Dispute

Anambra Releases ₦473m Salary Arrears Document as Obi’s Debt Claim Sparks Fresh Dispute

The Anambra State Government has released a 2024 payment document relating to ₦473 million in salary arrears owed to former workers and pensioners of two defunct state agencies, intensifying its dispute with former governor Peter Obi over the financial obligations he allegedly left behind.

The latest document concerns the defunct Anambra State Water Corporation (ANSWC) and the Anambra State Environmental Protection Agency (ANSEPA). It was released by the state government as part of its response to Obi’s repeated claim that he left office in March 2014 without outstanding salary, pension or gratuity obligations.

According to the document, the Anambra Government approved ₦473 million as the first tranche of payments to affected staff, pensioners and next of kin. The payment followed an out-of-court settlement reached between the state government and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) on February 6, 2024.

The settlement provided for further payments totalling ₦1.09 billion, with ₦363.381 million scheduled for each of 2025, 2026 and 2027.

The development has become significant in the ongoing Peter Obi-Anambra debt controversy, after Obi challenged the state government to prove that he left behind unpaid obligations when he handed over power to Willie Obiano in 2014.

Obi has maintained that his administration cleared historical arrears and left the state without outstanding salaries, pensions, gratuities or verified payments due to contractors.

Speaking recently on Arise TV’s Prime Time, Obi said he did not borrow money or issue bonds on behalf of Anambra State during his tenure.

He also said that, at the point of handover, the state was not owing salaries, pensions or gratuities that were due, nor contractors whose projects had been executed, certified and verified.

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Obi has previously said his administration systematically cleared more than ₦35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears inherited from previous administrations.

The Anambra Government, however, has presented a different account.

The state government has said it inherited outstanding liabilities involving retired teachers and workers of the Water Corporation, among others.

It has also released Debt Management Office (DMO) records which it said showed outstanding external loan obligations associated with previous administrations.

The government put the outstanding balance of eight external loans at about ₦127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026, based on its presentation.

The Soludo administration has also said it has cleared about ₦22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears, while maintaining that some legacy liabilities remained.

The latest salary-arrears document strengthens the government’s claim that substantial financial obligations involving former workers and pensioners of the two defunct agencies were eventually settled under the Soludo administration.

However, the existence of the 2024 settlement and subsequent payments does not, by itself, establish when every component of the arrears accrued or conclusively show that all the liabilities originated under Obi’s administration.

That distinction is important because some of the salary arrears referenced by the state government may have originated before Obi assumed office and could have been inherited from an earlier administration.

The central disagreement therefore remains whether the outstanding liabilities being settled in 2024 and subsequent years should be attributed wholly or partly to Obi’s administration, earlier administrations, or the accumulation of obligations over several years.

The Anambra Government has nevertheless continued to use the documents to challenge Obi’s assertion that he left the state without unpaid financial obligations.

Obi, on his part, has challenged the government to provide documentary evidence proving that he left Anambra with the debts and arrears being attributed to his administration.

He has also said he would stop his 2027 presidential campaign if the state can establish the claim.

The dispute has now expanded beyond the original argument over loans to include salary arrears, pensions, gratuities, contractor liabilities and the management of funds allegedly left behind by previous administrations.

Both sides continue to rely on official records and documents to support their positions, but they differ sharply in their interpretation of what those records establish about Anambra’s financial position when Obi left office.

The latest ₦473 million salary-arrears document, therefore, adds another piece of evidence to the increasingly contentious debate over the former governor’s financial record, while leaving unresolved the crucial question of when the underlying arrears were incurred and which administration was responsible for them.

Anambra Releases ₦473m Salary Arrears Document as Obi’s Debt Claim Sparks Fresh Dispute