The Anambra State Government has released a document showing the approval of N363.381 million as the second tranche of salary arrears owed to workers, pensioners and next of kin of the defunct Anambra State Water Corporation and the Anambra State Environmental Protection Agency.

The disclosure comes amid an ongoing dispute between the state government and former Governor Peter Obi over whether his administration left unpaid workers’ entitlements and other liabilities when he left office in 2014.

The document, dated May 24, 2025, was signed by the then Head of Service, Dame Theodora Okwy Igwegbe, and addressed to Governor Chukwuma Soludo.

According to the document, the payment was part of the terms of an out-of-court settlement reached on February 6, 2024, between the state government and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical and Recreational Services Employees.

The Head of Service stated that the second tranche was due for disbursement in 2026.

She wrote, “That the agreed second tranche payment of Three Hundred and Sixty-Three Million, Three Hundred and Eighty-One Thousand Naira only (N363,381,000.00) is due for disbursement in line with the Terms of Settlement signed on 6th February 2024.”

The document further stated that the payment would be processed through the State Government Payroll System via a dedicated account.

The disclosure was highlighted by the Anambra State New Media Office in a post on X, which described it as evidence that the Soludo administration had been settling liabilities allegedly inherited from previous administrations.

The state government has maintained that it inherited outstanding salary, pension and gratuity obligations, including liabilities involving workers of the defunct Water Corporation and ANSEPA.

It previously said the Soludo administration had cleared about N22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears.

However, the document does not, by itself, establish when all the underlying arrears accrued or which administration was responsible for them.

Obi disputes claims

Obi has repeatedly denied leaving unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities or certified obligations to contractors when he left office.

Speaking on Arise TV’s Prime Time, the former governor said his administration left office in March 2014 without owing workers whose payments were due from the state government.

“On the day I left office, the government of Anambra State, which I headed, was not owing any salary, gratuity, or pension to those scheduled to be paid by the state government,” Obi said.

“We were not owing any contractor or supplier who executed his job, certified and verified—not one.”

Obi also rejected claims that he borrowed money or issued bonds on behalf of Anambra State during his eight years in office.

“Let me categorically state again: I, Mr Peter Obi, did not approach any financial institution to borrow money or issue bonds on behalf of Anambra State in the eight years I was in government,” he said.

He argued that some of the funding facilities attributed to his administration were concessionary multilateral support arranged through the Federal Government rather than loans obtained directly from commercial banks by the state.

Obi cited the State Education Programme Investment Project, SEPIP, saying the drawdown of funds under the programme occurred after he had left office.

He also argued that undrawn portions of a loan facility should not be treated as debt incurred by an administration.

“Even if I had gone to a bank and borrowed money, but I did not spend the money, you cannot call it debt I left,” he said.

The former governor further cited former Debt Management Office Director-General, Abraham Nwankwo, whom he said had publicly stated that Obi was the only governor who did not visit the DMO during his tenure to seek approval to borrow money.

State’s debt claim

The dispute escalated after the Anambra State Government alleged that eight external borrowing arrangements associated with the Obi administration left an outstanding balance of about N127.4 billion, equivalent to $123.77 million, as of June 30, 2026.

The state also cited salary, pension and gratuity arrears among the liabilities it said were inherited by subsequent administrations.

Obi has rejected those claims and maintained that he did not borrow money or issue bonds on behalf of the state during his tenure.

The latest document confirms the existence of a 2024 out-of-court settlement and an approval process for the N363.381 million second tranche. It does not, however, independently establish that the arrears were incurred under Obi’s administration.

The disagreement has increasingly taken a political dimension as the 2027 presidential election approaches, with Obi expected to contest under the Nigerian Democratic Congress.

The NDC and the Peter Obi-backed OK Movement have criticised Soludo over his comments on the former governor.

The NDC National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, described the state government’s position as a distraction, while the Director-General of the OK Movement, John Ughulu, urged Soludo to focus on governance in Anambra.

Ughulu said political disagreements should not prevent voters from independently assessing the records of past and present administrations.

“We believe Soludo should focus his energy and attention on the task of governing Anambra State and delivering on the mandate entrusted to him by the people,” he said.

The competing claims over Anambra’s finances remain unresolved, with the state government pointing to inherited liabilities and Obi maintaining that his administration left the state without unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities or certified contractor obligations.