Anambra’s information commissioner says the state’s scrutiny of Peter Obi’s finances was never meant to damage him — only to test one specific claim.

The Anambra State Government has moved to cool a dispute that had been building for months, publicly acknowledging that Peter Obi performed well during his time as governor of the state.

The acknowledgement came from the Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, during an interview on Thursday on the 90MinutesAfrica podcast, hosted by Rudolf Okonkwo.

The Real Disagreement

According to Mefor, the state government’s examination of Obi’s financial records was not intended to undermine his achievements or his presidential ambitions.

Instead, he said, the disagreement centres on a single claim: Obi’s assertion that he left no financial liabilities behind for the administrations that followed him.

“The intention of the Anambra State government is not to indict Peter Obi. Peter Obi did well as governor,” Mefor said.

The N12.13 Billion Question

The commissioner specifically challenged Obi’s claim that his administration left N12.13 billion in an ecological fund account at First Bank’s Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) branch in Awka.

Mefor said the state government requested the account statement from the bank but found no evidence of the balance Obi described. That gap, he said, is what the government is trying to resolve.

“The objective of the state government is to clarify its financial records,” he said, adding that disputing Obi’s “no liabilities” claim is the basis of the whole back-and-forth.

No Rift with Soludo

Mefor also rejected suggestions of a personal feud between Governor Chukwuma Soludo and Obi.

“There is no rift between Governor Soludo and Peter Obi. They are both in politics, and they have their interests to defend,” he said.

Two things that had become tangled in public debate: an assessment of Obi’s record as governor, and a factual dispute over one account balance.

The takeaway is narrow but important — the Anambra government is not, on the record, disputing that Obi governed well. It is disputing one claim about what he left behind in the treasury. Those are not the same argument.at the end, the Anambra government said Obi did well.