The Anambra State Government has released documents relating to N363.38 million in salary arrears owed to former workers and pensioners of two defunct state agencies, days after former governor Peter Obi renewed his claim that he did not leave the state with outstanding debts or unpaid obligations.
Politics Nigeria gathered that latest documents concern workers linked to the defunct Anambra State Water Corporation and the Anambra State Environmental Protection Agency, ANSEPA.
The state government has relied on the records to argue that financial obligations connected to the two agencies remained unresolved and were later addressed through an agreement reached under Governor Chukwuma Soludo.
One of the documents is a memo dated May 22, 2025, signed by the then Head of Service, Theodora Igwegbe.
It refers to the implementation of a settlement reached between the Anambra State Government and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical and Recreational Services Employees, AUPCTRE.
The memo specifically provides for a second payment of N363,381,000 in 2026.
“The second payment in the sum of Three Hundred and Sixty-Three Million, Three Hundred and Eighty-One Thousand Naira only (₦363,381,000.00) will be made in 2026,” the document reads.
The proposed payment was to be made to beneficiaries connected with the outstanding claims involving the two former government agencies.
The memo also requested approval for the release of the funds and indicated that the payment would be processed through the state government’s payroll system.
The development followed the release of an earlier settlement document signed by the Anambra State Government and AUPCTRE on February 6, 2024.
The agreement was reached after a prolonged dispute involving the defunct Water Corporation and ANSEPA.
According to the settlement document, a verification exercise put the salary arrears of former Water Corporation workers at more than N1.32 billion, while the claims involving ANSEPA workers were put at about N238.18 million.
The settlement provided for the payment of the agreed obligations in instalments.
The first tranche was put at N473 million, while further payments were to be made in subsequent years.
The Anambra State Government had announced in February 2024 that it had reached an out-of-court settlement with AUPCTRE after years of disagreement over the affected workers.
The government said at the time that the settlement would help resolve a dispute that had lasted about 14 years.
It also said the agreement would save the state about N1.3 billion.
The 2024 agreement is important to the current controversy because it establishes that the dispute over the workers’ claims was still unresolved when Soludo’s administration entered into the settlement.
However, the existence of the settlement document does not, by itself, establish when every part of the underlying salary arrears was incurred or which administration was responsible for accumulating the entire liability.
That distinction has become central to the disagreement between the current administration and Obi.
Obi Maintains He Left Anambra Without Debt
Obi, who governed Anambra from 2006 to 2013 before completing the remainder of his tenure in 2014, has repeatedly rejected claims that he left the state with unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities or other major financial obligations.
He has maintained that his administration inherited several liabilities from previous governments and took steps to clear them during his time in office.
The former governor has also cited the amount of historical arrears his administration paid as part of his defence of his record in office.
Obi said his administration “systematically liquidated historical gratuities and arrears dating back several years, amounting to over N35 billion.”
He also maintained that at the point of handover, the state had no outstanding obligations in salaries, pensions and gratuities, while contractors whose projects had been duly executed and certified were also not owed.
“At the point of handover, the state owed nothing in salaries, gratuities, or pensions, nor did we owe anything to any contractor for projects duly executed and certified,” he said.
Obi had also challenged those disputing his account to provide documentary evidence.
“If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning,” he said.
The Soludo administration has taken a different position.
Anambra Commissioner for Information and Value Orientation, Law Mefor, has accused the former governor of leaving behind financial obligations which subsequent administrations had to deal with.
The commissioner has also referred to outstanding loans and other liabilities associated with the state.
In a recent statement, Mefor said the state government had cleared about N22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears owed to retired state and local government employees and teachers.
He also cited salary arrears involving workers of the defunct Water Corporation.
According to him, records available to the state indicated that the Obi administration had verified 16 months of salary arrears and agreed to pay them in instalments, but only five months were paid.
“We have been informed that the government of HE Peter Obi verified and certified the debt of 16 months of salary arrears and agreed to pay in tranches.
“It only paid five months and no more until today. This administration has set up a committee headed by the Head of Service to finalise a new verification for us to pay,” he said.
Mefor also referred to figures from the Debt Management Office concerning loans attributed to the state.
