The Anambra State Government has released an official document showing approval for the payment of N363.381 million as the second tranche of salary arrears involving workers, pensioners and next of kin of the defunct Anambra State Water Corporation and the Anambra State Environmental Protection Agency.
The disclosure was made on Friday, amid an ongoing dispute between the state government and former Governor Peter Obi over whether his administration left unpaid workers’ entitlements when it handed over power in 2014.
The document, dated May 24, 2025, was signed by the then Head of Service, Dame Theodora Okwy Igwegbe, and addressed to Governor Chukwuma Soludo.
It sought approval for the release of N363,381,000 to implement the second tranche of an out-of-court settlement reached between the state government and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical and Recreational Services Employees.
According to the document, the settlement, signed on February 6, 2024, covered arrears owed to workers, pensioners and next of kin of employees of the defunct Water Corporation and ANSEPA.
The document stated that the second tranche was due for payment in 2026.
The Head of Service wrote: “That the agreed second tranche payment of Three Hundred and Sixty-Three Million, Three Hundred and Eighty-One Thousand Naira only (N363,381,000.00) is due for disbursement in line with the Terms of Settlement signed on 6th February 2024.”
The payment, according to the document, was to be processed through the state government’s payroll system using a dedicated account.
It added that the disbursement would “further reinforce your administration’s commitment to social justice, workers’ welfare, and adherence to agreements reached with organised labour.”
The document was shared by the Anambra State New Media Office in a post on X on Friday.
The post accused Obi of denying the existence of outstanding workers’ entitlements inherited by the Soludo administration.
It was captioned, “PART 3: EVIDENCE THAT LYING IS IN PETER OBI’S DNA.”
The post stated: “The Soludo administration paid the first tranche of State workers’ entitlements—entitlements Peter Obi left unpaid during his eight years as governor. Gov Soludo has now, also, paid the second. Peter Obi knows we know he’s lying.”
The disclosure came shortly after Obi reiterated his position that he left office without owing salaries, gratuities or pensions.
Speaking on Arise TV’s Prime Time programme, Obi said, “On the day I left office, the government of Anambra State, which I headed, was not owing any salary, gratuity, or pension to those scheduled to be paid by the state government.”
He added, “We were not owing any contractor or supplier who executed his job, certified and verified—not one.”
The former governor also disputed claims that he borrowed money or issued bonds on behalf of the state during his eight years in office.
“Let me categorically state again: I, Mr Peter Obi, did not approach any financial institution to borrow money or issue bonds on behalf of Anambra State in the eight years I was in government,” he said.
Obi said some of the funding facilities associated with projects during his administration were concessionary multilateral development support secured through the Federal Government.
“There’s a difference between I went to the bank to borrow money, then the Federal Government sees, ‘Oh, this state is doing well in education.’ They selected Anambra, Ekiti, and Bauchi and said, ‘These three states are doing well. Why don’t we give them a concessionary multilateral support to help them?’” he said.
He also maintained that approved funds which were not drawn should not be regarded as debt incurred by his administration.
“Even if I had gone to a bank and borrowed money—even if I had gone to a bank and borrowed money, but I did not spend the money, you cannot call it debt I left,” Obi said.
The dispute over the arrears is part of a wider disagreement concerning the financial obligations inherited by the Soludo administration when it assumed office.
The Anambra Government has said it inherited liabilities from previous administrations, including salary, pension and gratuity arrears, and has stated that it has cleared about N22 billion in inherited gratuity arrears.
The government has also maintained that arrears involving employees of the defunct Water Corporation were settled through a three-tranche arrangement under the Soludo administration, with the first two instalments paid or approved.
Obi, however, has continued to insist that his administration left Anambra without outstanding salaries, pensions, gratuities or certified obligations to contractors and suppliers.
The latest document establishes that an out-of-court settlement was reached in February 2024 and that the state subsequently initiated the approval process for the N363.381 million second tranche.
However, the document does not independently establish when the underlying arrears accrued or determine which administration incurred the original obligations.
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