Anambra Government Challenges Peter Obi’s ₦2.13bn Ecological Fund Claim

The Anambra State Government has challenged former Governor Peter Obi’s claim that he left more than ₦2.13 billion in an ecological fund account before handing over power in 2014.

The state Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Law Mefor, said the First Bank account identified by Obi was not an ecological fund account and had never contained the amount claimed by the former governor. The statement was shared by the Anambra New Media platform.

According to Mefor, the government obtained a certified printout of First Bank account number 2018779464, which Obi had identified as the account where the ecological funds were kept.

He said the account was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account and not an ecological fund account. Mefor further claimed that from the time the account was opened in 2011, it had never recorded the ₦2.13 billion amount either as an inflow or balance.

The commissioner therefore challenged Obi to explain where the ₦2.13 billion he said was left for his successor was kept.

The latest development followed Obi’s response to claims by the Anambra Government that his administration left behind inherited debts, including a ₦2 billion ecological loan, contractor liabilities and unpaid salaries, gratuities and pensions.

Obi rejected those claims, saying his administration had cleared historical gratuities and arrears worth more than ₦35 billion. He maintained that, at the point of handover, the state owed nothing in salaries, gratuities or pensions and had no outstanding obligations to contractors for projects that had been duly executed and certified.

On the disputed ecological fund, Obi said the money was released about three months before the end of his tenure for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis. He said he deliberately refused to spend it because the funds were tied to a specific project and should be preserved for his successor.

Obi said the money remained intact in First Bank account number 2018779464, with a balance of more than ₦2.13 billion. He also maintained that the ecological funds were separate from the more than ₦75 billion in savings he claimed his administration left behind.

The Anambra Government also disputed Obi’s broader account of the state’s inherited financial obligations. Mefor said eight external loans remained after Obi left office on March 17, 2014, with their combined balance standing at ₦127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026, according to the government’s figures.

The loans listed by the government include projects relating to malaria control, agriculture, health, education, community development, erosion and watershed management and value-chain development.

Mefor also said the Soludo administration had cleared about ₦22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears but maintained that some legacy liabilities remained from previous administrations. He specifically cited arrears involving retired teachers and workers of the Water Corporation.

The commissioner further disputed Obi’s claim that his administration left more than ₦75 billion in savings, asking for records to substantiate the figure.

Obi, however, has challenged anyone who can establish that his account of the ecological fund and the state’s financial position at the time of handover was incorrect to provide evidence, saying he would stop campaigning if his claims were proven wrong.