The Anambra State Government has renewed its challenge to former Governor Peter Obi to account for the whereabouts of the ?2.13 billion ecological fund he said was left in a First Bank account when he handed over power in March 2014.
The latest challenge was contained in a statement issued on Saturday, September 26, 2026, by the state Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, following Obi’s recent television interview on Arise TV.
Mefor said the government was particularly concerned that Obi did not address the ecological fund during the interview, despite the former governor previously providing the account number, bank and branch where he claimed the money was kept.
Obi had said his administration left more than ?2.13 billion untouched in First Bank account number 2018779464 as funds earmarked for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.
He maintained that the money was separate from the more than ?75 billion in savings he said his administration left behind.
However, Mefor said records obtained from First Bank contradicted the former governor’s description of the account.
According to the commissioner, First Bank, in a letter dated September 16, 2026, identified account number 2018779464 as the Anambra State Government Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Account, rather than an ecological fund account.
Mefor further claimed that the bank records showed that the account did not have a balance close to ?2 billion as of March 17, 2014, and that ?2.13 billion did not appear as either an inflow or balance during the account’s active period from 2011 to 2018.
The government’s position is consistent with earlier statements by Mefor that certified bank records did not support Obi’s claim about the ecological fund.
Mefor therefore asked Obi to explain where the funds were if they were not held in the First Bank account he identified.
‘Since the money is not in the First Bank account as claimed, where is it? Or is the money actually missing?’ the commissioner asked in the statement.
The latest development is part of a broader dispute between Obi and the Anambra State Government over the financial position of the state when he left office in 2014.
The state government has alleged that Obi’s administration left various financial liabilities, including external obligations, while Obi has rejected the claims and maintained that his administration cleared outstanding salaries, pensions and gratuities and did not leave unpaid liabilities for duly executed and certified projects.
On the broader debt controversy, Obi has also challenged the government’s description of $123.77 million in external financing associated with projects implemented during his tenure, saying he neither borrowed from financial institutions nor issued bonds on behalf of Anambra.
Obi had earlier challenged anyone disputing his account of the state’s finances to provide evidence to the contrary, saying he would stop campaigning if his claims were established to be wrong.
Mefor, however, said the state government remained ready to provide information on the financial records at issue, framing the dispute as a matter of public accountability.
The commissioner called on the former governor to address the government’s latest claims and urged him to apologise if the documentary evidence ultimately contradicted his account.