Kenneth Okonkwo, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress and former spokesman for Peter Obi’s 2023 presidential campaign, has changed his previous position on the former Anambra State governor’s financial record, saying he was misled when he defended Obi against claims that his administration left debts and other financial obligations behind.
Okonkwo made the disclosure during an appearance on Television Continental’s Sunday Politics programme, where he said he could no longer repeat some of the claims he made in defence of Obi during the 2023 presidential campaign.
During that campaign, Okonkwo had maintained that Obi left Anambra without outstanding debts, unpaid salaries, pensions or gratuities. He said at the time that Nigerians should verify the claims for themselves.
Okonkwo said his position changed after what he described as fresh information concerning the financial obligations associated with Obi’s administration. He specifically referred to claims by the Anambra State Government that eight loans were obtained during Obi’s tenure and that workers of the state-owned water corporation were owed salaries and arrears.
He said he was prepared to change his position when new facts emerged, adding that he could no longer make the same statements he made about Obi in 2023.
The issue remains disputed. The Anambra State Government has said eight external financing facilities associated with projects undertaken during Obi’s tenure had a combined contracted value of $123.77 million, with $92.35 million outstanding as of June 30, 2026. The government has also raised questions over salary arrears involving workers of the former Anambra State Water Corporation and other state institutions.
Obi has rejected the description of the financing as debt he left behind, maintaining that he left office in March 2014 without outstanding debts, unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities or contractor obligations. He has also disputed the interpretation of the figures cited by the state government and previously referenced Debt Management Office figures to argue that Anambra’s external debt was about $30 million when he left office.
The disagreement therefore involves more than whether financing facilities existed. It also concerns how those facilities should be classified, which obligations were outstanding when Obi left office, and which financial liabilities should be attributed to his administration. Okonkwo’s latest comments represent a change in his own political position, but they do not by themselves resolve those underlying questions.
Okonkwo, who now serves as spokesman for the presidential campaign council of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the ADC’s candidate for the 2027 presidential election, also acknowledged that his political role concerning Obi would be different from what it was during the last election cycle.
He described his role in 2023 as an “examination in chief” and said the approach in 2027 would instead involve “cross-examination”, signalling that Obi’s record would face greater scrutiny during the coming election campaign.
The latest development adds another political voice to the continuing debate over Anambra’s financial records under successive administrations. For readers, the central distinction remains between Okonkwo’s revised position, the claims made by the Anambra State Government and Obi’s continuing rejection of those claims.
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