The Anambra Govt Obi challenge says the NDC candidate should leave the 2027 race over alleged debt and unpaid salary promises
The Anambra State Government on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, challenged Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, to withdraw from the 2027 race, accusing him of breaking pledges on state debt and the timely payment of workers.
Also read: NDC to Inaugurate Obi-Kwankwaso Campaign Council
The statement was posted on the government’s official X account.
It said Peter Obi had promised to quit the presidential contest if it was shown that he left Anambra in debt, and that as governor he had pledged to resign if salaries were not paid on time.
The government said he broke both promises and left office in 2014 with heavier arrears. Those are the government’s claims. They have not been independently established in the post.
“Obi vowed to quit the presidential race if proven he left Anambra in debt. As governor, he vowed to resign if workers weren’t paid on time. He broke both. He left office in 2014 with heavier arrears.”
Attached was a letter dated 25 April 2006 and said to have been signed by Chuks Iloegbunam, then Chief of Staff to Peter Obi.
Titled “GUBERNATORIAL PREROGATIVE,” the letter made a “special appeal” for salary arrears owed to staff of the Anambra State Water Corporation.
It said the corporation’s monthly wage bill was about N15 million and that the workers had last been paid in February.
“Since it is Your Excellency’s unchanging desire to achieve a better future for our children and children’s children, please, Sir, bear in mind that officials of the Water Corporation also have children who are looking to your compassionate leadership,” the letter said.
It asked that the corporation be placed among parastatals paid by subvention so staff would not have to visit the governor’s office each month over unpaid salaries.
The document dates from early in Peter Obi’s time in office, not from 2014.
The government is using it to argue that wage delays existed under his watch. It does not, by itself, prove the size of any debt at the end of his tenure.
Peter Obi has not, in the immediate reporting of the X post, issued a reply.
The exchange is now part of the 2027 argument over his record in Anambra.
Also read: NDC to Inaugurate Obi-Kwankwaso Campaign Council
One side has published an old appeal for unpaid water workers and called on him to stand down. The other side has yet to answer that dare in public.
