Former spokesman for Peter Obi’s 2023 presidential campaign, Kenneth Okonkwo, has admitted that he was “misled” when he previously defended the former Anambra State governor against claims that his administration left behind debts and other financial obligations.
Okonkwo, now spokesman for the presidential campaign council of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for the 2027 election, said he would no longer repeat some of the claims he made about Obi after fresh disclosures by the Anambra State Government.
He made the disclosure on Sunday Politics, a Television Continental (TVC) programme, while discussing the ongoing controversy over Obi’s financial record as governor of Anambra State.
Okonkwo recalled that during the 2023 presidential campaign, he had told Nigerians that Obi left office without outstanding debts, unpaid salaries, pensions or gratuities.
“There was a time I told Nigerians that Peter Obi was not owing anything, did not leave any debt, he was not owing any salary. No gratuity. No pension. And I said, go and verify.
“I’m not a man that stands on my own misunderstanding. When I see the facts, I agree,” he said.
Explaining his change of position, Okonkwo said he had relied on information available to him at the time.
“You know me, I’m a very passionate person in whatever I believe in. Let me tell you because I was misled,” he said.
He said the Anambra State Government had subsequently claimed that the Obi administration obtained eight loans and that workers of the state-owned water corporation were owed salaries and arrears.
“The fact is Anambra State Government said he borrowed eight loans. The fact is that Anambra State said that at the water corporation, he was owing workers there, all the salaries, all the arrears. I cannot say the same thing that I said about Peter Obi in 2023,” Okonkwo said.
Obi, Anambra govt trade claims
The controversy followed statements by the Anambra State Government concerning the state’s inherited financial obligations.
The state’s Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, had said Anambra was still servicing loans obtained by previous administrations, including those of Obi and former Governor Willie Obiano.
Obi rejected the claims, maintaining that he left office without outstanding debts and did not owe salaries, pensions or contractors when he handed over power in 2014.
The former governor also said his administration left N2.1 billion in an ecological fund for the state.
The Anambra State Government disputed the claims, saying Obi left $123.77 million in debt when he left office. The government also said it had no evidence of the ecological fund referenced by the former governor.
The state government subsequently released documents relating to N363.38 million in salary arrears which it said were inherited from the Obi administration.
The competing claims have continued to fuel debate over the financial position of Anambra State at the end of Obi’s tenure.
‘2027 will be cross-examination’
Okonkwo also revisited his previous defence of Obi’s family over claims concerning an expensive wristwatch allegedly worn by a son of President Bola Tinubu.
He recalled publicly defending the Obi family at the time, saying he had questioned whether members of the former governor’s family could afford such an item while Nigerians were facing economic hardship.
According to him, his approach to Obi would be different in the 2027 election because he would no longer be campaigning for him.
“That’s why I said in 2023, I campaigned for them as the examination in chief. In 2027, it’s going to be a cross-examination,” Okonkwo said.
Obi governed Anambra State from March 2006 to March 2014. His first tenure was interrupted by impeachment in November 2006, but he returned to office after a court overturned the impeachment. He handed over to Willie Obiano on March 17, 2014.
