The lingering argument over who owes what in Anambra State just got a fresh document thrown into it. Yunusa Tanko, National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement, has released the handover note Peter Obi signed on March 17, 2014, the day he formally passed the baton to his successor, Willie Obiano. The move is a direct response to claims from the current state government that Anambra is still groaning under debts inherited from previous administrations, Obi’s included.
According to the document, Obi left office with a net balance of ₦86.67 billion. Broken down, that figure is made up of ₦27 billion tied up in local investments, about $156 million in foreign investments (roughly ₦26.5 billion at the 2014 exchange rate), ₦28.17 billion sitting in state and MDA balances, and a further ₦10 billion representing an approved refund from the Federal Government.
The state government’s position has been that it is still servicing obligations left behind by past administrations, and Obi’s name keeps coming up in that conversation. Obi himself has pushed back hard, insisting he left no unpaid debts, no unpaid salaries, and no unpaid pensions, and daring anyone who says otherwise to bring evidence.
Tanko didn’t stop at defending Obi’s record. He went further, calling on every Anambra governor who has held office since 1999 to come clean and publish their own handover notes. His argument is simple: if transparency is good enough for one administration, it should be good enough for all of them.
