The renewed war of words between Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo and his predecessor, Peter Obi, over the state's finances has brought back to the fore a controversy in which Soludo himself once demanded answers over billions of naira allegedly missing from Nigeria's public finances.
In February 2015, Soludo, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, accused then Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, of failing to account for more than N30 trillion which he alleged had been stolen, diverted, left unaccounted for or grossly mismanaged.
The allegation was contained in a series of articles published during the political and economic debates ahead of the 2015 general elections, when Soludo sharply criticised the economic management of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Okonjo-Iweala responded forcefully, disputing Soludo's criticisms and describing him as Nigeria's worst CBN governor. Soludo subsequently published another article, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Missing Trillions, in which he maintained his claims.
In a statement issued on February 4, 2015, titled I Stand By My Statements, Soludo said he stood by his assertion that more than N30 trillion had either been stolen, diverted, unaccounted for or grossly mismanaged over several years.
He added that the figure did not include an estimated $40.9 billion which he attributed to an African Union report on money allegedly stolen from Nigeria annually.
The magnitude of the figure drew attention because it dwarfed Nigeria's annual federal budget at the time.
Nigeria's 2015 federal budget was eventually approved at about N5.07 trillion, following an initial expenditure framework of approximately N4.49 trillion and subsequent adjustments. The budget was predicated on an oil price benchmark of $53 per barrel, crude oil production of 2.28 million barrels per day and an exchange rate of N190 to the dollar.
Thus, although Soludo's N30 trillion claim covered several years and was not presented as money missing from the 2015 budget alone, the amount was almost six times the size of the federal budget eventually approved for that year.
The allegation was subsequently subjected to public scrutiny, with civil society organisations demanding that the former finance minister account for the funds. Okonjo-Iweala, however, rejected the allegations, while later analyses also questioned aspects of Soludo's calculations.
More than 11 years later, Soludo has found himself on the other side of a similar accountability argument.
The current dispute with Obi centres on claims by the Anambra Government that the former governor left behind loans and other financial obligations which the present administration has continued to service.
The state government has cited outstanding external loans and other liabilities, while Obi has rejected the claims and released documents which his camp says demonstrate the financial position he handed over to the succeeding administration.
According to the document released by Obi's camp, the state's financial position at the close of his tenure showed a net positive balance of more than N86 billion.
The former governor's camp has also challenged the Soludo administration to produce documentary evidence supporting allegations that his administration left behind unpaid liabilities.
The Presidency has meanwhile challenged Obi to honour his pledge to discontinue his presidential campaign if evidence emerges that he left unpaid liabilities as governor.
The competing claims have turned the Anambra financial dispute into a battle over records, figures and accountability — precisely the kind of debate Soludo demanded in 2015 when he challenged the Jonathan administration to explain the management of the country's resources.
The difference, however, is significant. Soludo's 2015 allegation concerned his assessment of the management of Nigeria's federal finances over several years and included the broad categories of money he described as stolen, diverted, unaccounted for or mismanaged. The present controversy concerns specific loans and liabilities which the Anambra Government attributes to previous administrations.
The parallel nevertheless provides an interesting backdrop to the current confrontation.
In 2015, Soludo's argument was that public officials entrusted with managing the nation's resources should be subjected to rigorous scrutiny and required to account for their stewardship.
In 2026, as governor of Anambra, he is making similar demands for accountability from a predecessor, while Obi is demanding that the allegations against his administration be backed by verifiable records.
At the heart of both controversies is therefore the same question: what financial position did one administration inherit, what did it leave behind, and can the figures be independently reconciled?
For the Anambra dispute, the answer will ultimately depend less on the increasingly heated exchanges between the two political figures and more on the underlying financial records — loan agreements, repayment schedules, budget documents, audited accounts, handover records and other verifiable evidence.
That would also represent the clearest way of resolving the competing narratives now dominating the debate over the state's finances.
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