The Anambra State Government has released documents detailing a ₦363.381 million salary-arrears payment scheduled for workers, pensioners and next of kin of two defunct state agencies, renewing its dispute with former governor Peter Obi over his claim that he left office without outstanding salary or pension liabilities.
Key Highlights
- The records detail a ₦363.381 million second tranche for workers and pensioners of the defunct ANSWC and ANSEPA.
- The state government and AUPCTRE signed a settlement on February 6, 2024.
- The agreement provided for instalment payments from 2024 to 2027.
- Peter Obi has maintained that he left office without outstanding salaries, pensions, gratuities or certified contractor debts.
- The documents show the settlement and payment schedule but do not independently establish when every arrear was incurred.
What the Anambra Salary Arrears Documents Show
According to a government memo dated May 22, 2025, the state scheduled a second tranche of ₦363.381 million for payment in 2026 under an agreement to settle outstanding salary claims involving the defunct Anambra State Water Corporation (ANSWC) and Anambra State Environmental Protection Agency (ANSEPA).
The memo states: “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.”
It referenced Article 7 of the terms of settlement and said the payment was part of the government’s commitment to resolving outstanding claims involving affected workers and pensioners. The beneficiaries include staff, pensioners and next of kin of workers of the two agencies. The payment was to be processed through the state payroll system using a dedicated account.
Settlement Covers Water Corporation, ANSEPA Workers
The settlement cited in the documents was signed by the Anambra State Government and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) on February 6, 2024.
Available details put verified salary claims for the Water Corporation and ANSEPA at more than ₦1.56 billion. The parties agreed to settle the liabilities in instalments, including an initial ₦473 million payment in 2024 and further payments across 2025, 2026 and 2027. The latest document therefore concerns one tranche in a broader settlement.
Government Links Arrears to Obi Administration
The Soludo administration has presented the settlement as evidence that financial obligations involving the affected workers remained unresolved after Obi left office in 2014. The state government has argued that some salary, pension and gratuity liabilities inherited from previous administrations remained outstanding and were later addressed by the current administration.
The government has also released records concerning public debt and other alleged liabilities as it intensified its criticism of Obi’s record. However, the settlement documents establish the claims, the agreement between the state and AUPCTRE and the payment schedule. On their own, they do not independently establish the precise period in which every component of the arrears accrued.
Obi Maintains He Left Anambra Without Arrears
Obi has disputed claims that his administration left Anambra with unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities or certified contractor debts. He has maintained that he paid what was due when he left office and said his administration also cleared substantial inherited liabilities.
TheCable reported Obi’s response to the government’s wider claims about Anambra’s financial position.
Earlier ₦473m Payment and Wider Debt Dispute
The latest record follows an earlier government document relating to a ₦473 million first tranche approved in 2024. Under the settlement terms, the remaining agreed amount was to be paid in subsequent instalments through 2025, 2026 and 2027.
The salary-arrears issue forms part of a broader disagreement between Obi and the Anambra State Government over financial obligations allegedly inherited from his administration. Anambra Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation Law Mefor has alleged that Obi left external loan obligations, salary arrears, pension liabilities and other commitments.
The government has put the outstanding balance of eight external loans linked to Obi’s administration at ₦127.4 billion as of June 30, 2026, using the official exchange rate. Obi has disputed the government’s account. The competing claims have become part of the political debate surrounding the former governor ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
What the ₦363m Record Establishes
The documents show that the Anambra State Government entered into a settlement with AUPCTRE over salary claims involving the defunct ANSWC and ANSEPA, and that the agreement provided for instalment payments, including a ₦363.381 million tranche scheduled for 2026.
What remains disputed is who should ultimately bear responsibility for the underlying arrears and precisely when all the liabilities accrued. That distinction matters in assessing the competing claims between Obi and the present Anambra State Government as both sides present records ahead of the 2027 political season.
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