APC Campaign, Obi Group Clash Over Anambra Debt Row

The Peter Obi Media Office has rejected the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council’s call on the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race.

The APC campaign council, in a statement signed by its spokesman, Dele Alake, yesterday, accused the former governor of misrepresenting his administration’s financial record and challenged him to honour his reported promise to withdraw from the presidential race if it was established that he left behind a debt burden in the state.

The APC campaign council said the Anambra State Government disclosed that Obi spent approximately $4.05 billion, equivalent to N5.4 trillion, during his time in office and contracted $123.77 million in external loans.

However, the Obi Media Office, in a statement signed by its spokesman, Idris Zekeri, said Nigeria is currently in a mourning mood over Alake’s glaringly poor record as a Minister, which caused the deaths of 37 Nigerian youths, but like “Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned, the Minister is talking about a man who has become a model of good governance in Nigeria.”

“For us in Peter Obi Media, there is a tragic irony in watching high-ranking public officials prioritise political posturing over executive accountability. In a functional democracy where leadership is bound by empathy and responsibility, a disaster claiming the lives of dozens of citizens under a minister’s direct oversight would demand total focus, sober reflection, and immediate systemic reform.

“Yet, instead of fixing the catastrophic failures in Nigeria’s solid minerals sector, providing answers to these questions: Who authorised the operation? What safeguards were in place? Who failed? And who will be held accountable?

“A minister overseeing a sector at the centre of such a tragic episode is busy trying to create a distraction. Minister Dele Alake appears more eager to trade political barbs regarding Peter Obi and past state governance records.

“The numbers are not mere statistics — they represent real human lives lost in illegal, unsafe, and poorly regulated mining environments. When young citizens die in underground pits while the custodian of that very sector devotes energy to political distractions, it sends a troubling message about the administration’s true priorities.

“Before offering public lectures on state-level administrative histories or political credentials, federal custodians of failed essential sectors must first account for their primary responsibilities:

“Ending unchecked illegal operations and curbing informal and unregulated extraction that endangers vulnerable youth seeking a livelihood is the Minister’s responsibility.

“Nigerian youths deserve a solid minerals sector built on safety, regulation, and sustainable development — not an executive office that chases political shadows while tragedy unfolds on its watch. The APC administration has copiously proven in all sectors that it has failed the Nigerian people in all ramifications,” the statement added.