Obi, who broke his silence on the controversy on Thursday, said he had remained quiet in recent days while mourning the death of his elder brother and friend, Chief Okey Ezeibe.
In a statement, Obi also said he had no disagreement with his successor, Governor Chukwuma Soludo, and stressed that he was not seeking to become governor of any state again.
He urged politicians to focus on Nigeria's economic and social challenges and called on governors to allow presidential candidates to campaign freely in their states.
Obi maintained that, during his tenure as governor from 2006 to 2014, he did not approach any financial institution to obtain a loan or issue a bond on behalf of Anambra State.
He cited former Debt Management Office Director-General Abraham Nwankwo, saying Nwankwo had publicly identified him as the only state governor during his tenure who did not approach the DMO for a loan facility.
Obi further maintained that when he handed over power on March 17, 2014, Anambra was not owing salaries, gratuities or pensions that were due for payment, nor did it owe contractors or suppliers whose completed work had been properly verified and certified.
The former governor said the financing arrangements being described as loans “left by Peter Obi” were largely multilateral development programmes negotiated by the Federal Government and made available to selected states through subsidiary arrangements.
According to Obi, such development financing should be examined based on the amount approved, the amount actually drawn down and the amount outstanding at the time he left office.
He argued that the $123.77 million figure cited by the Anambra Government represents the total value of facilities associated with several development programmes rather than money that was necessarily drawn down during his administration.
The Anambra State Government has previously said its records show that eight external borrowing facilities connected to Obi's tenure amounted to about $123.77 million, with approximately $92.35 million still outstanding as of June 2026. The state valued the outstanding balance at about ₦127.37 billion.
The government has argued that the issue is not whether borrowing for development is inherently wrong, but whether liabilities from the facilities remained outstanding when Obi left office.
Obi said the figures presented by the current administration raised questions when compared with Debt Management Office records.
He cited DMO figures which, according to him, showed Anambra's external debt at about $18 million in March 2006, approximately $30 million in March 2014, and about $45.15 million by December 2014, nine months after he left office.
He therefore questioned how the state could describe $123.77 million as debt inherited directly from his administration if the state's recorded external debt stock at the time of his departure was about $30 million.
However, the different figures cited in the dispute may represent different accounting concepts. A debt-stock figure and the total approved value of development-financing facilities are not necessarily identical measures. A World Bank document, for example, separately records individual Anambra development-financing facilities through opening balances, additional drawdowns, repayments and closing balances.
This distinction is at the centre of the latest disagreement between Obi and the Soludo administration.
The Anambra Government had earlier released records identifying eight external facilities linked to projects including malaria control, education, healthcare, erosion control and agricultural development.
Commissioner for Information Law Mefor said the records showed outstanding liabilities associated with the facilities and disputed Obi's assertion that he left the state without debt.
The state has also raised separate questions about salary arrears and other liabilities, while Obi has maintained that his administration cleared historical arrears and did not leave unpaid obligations relating to salaries, pensions, gratuities or certified contractors.
The competing claims have now developed into a wider political dispute over the financial record of Obi's eight-year administration.
Despite the disagreement, Obi said he had no personal dispute with Soludo and urged Nigerians to concentrate on the country's broader economic and social challenges.
He also appealed to governors to support whichever presidential candidate they choose while allowing other candidates to campaign freely in their states.
The former governor's latest statement adds another layer to an ongoing dispute in which both sides have cited government records to support their positions.
The precise reconciliation of the $123.77 million facility figure, actual drawdowns, repayments and debt stock at the March 2014 handover date remains central to determining how the development financing should be characterised.
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