Abia State Governor Alex Otti has reaffirmed his claim that former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi left about $155 million in three banks when he left office.
Otti made the clarification on Friday, September 25, 2026, during an exclusive interview with Arise TV, following renewed controversy over Obi’s financial record as governor of Anambra State.
The debate was reignited after the Anambra State Government recently released records alleging that Obi left the state with outstanding financial obligations, including external loans, raising questions about previous claims that his administration left behind a debt-free state.
Otti, however, said those claims did not contradict the account he published in 2020 because his intervention was specifically about money Obi had left in government accounts.
He said his account was contained in an article titled “Prudence over Profligacy,” which he wrote on June 8, 2020, to demonstrate that it was possible to exercise financial prudence in government.
Otti explained that his knowledge of the funds came from his position as chief executive officer of Diamond Bank at the time, when Obi was preparing to leave office.
According to him, Obi initially wanted the funds to remain in naira, but he advised him to convert the money to dollars because of the risk of further depreciation of the Nigerian currency.
He said the money was subsequently converted into dollars and kept in three banks.
“I had said that the CEO of the bank at that time, he was going to—he wanted to leave the money in naira, and when he came to me and I said no. This naira you want to keep, naira will keep losing value. So you probably want to convert it to dollars, and it was converted,” Otti said.
The Abia governor said his account was therefore based on an event he personally witnessed and documented six years ago.
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“So it’s a statement of fact, and it’s something that happened several years, six years ago. So I haven’t spoken again. Okay. So that’s what they are referring to,” he said.
Otti stressed that the existence of the funds he referred to did not necessarily settle the separate question of whether Anambra had outstanding liabilities when Obi left office.
“It doesn’t take away what I wrote. What I wrote about is what he left, okay, as credit,” he said
He added that any claims concerning debts or liabilities were matters for the Anambra State Government to substantiate.
“So if there were debits and then debts that are being owed, it’s for the Anambra State government to come up with it.
“It was not—I just gave account of the savings, and six years after, I still stand by that. But I cannot talk about the debt. It’s not within my competence to talk about it,” Otti said.
Asked whether he had followed the latest developments closely, Otti said he had seen some reports but was not sufficiently familiar with the details to comment extensively on the controversy.
“I’ve seen some things. So I’m not too sure that it calls for that much of controversy,” he said.
Otti nevertheless maintained that his 2020 account remained valid.
“But then, having said that, what I documented in 2020 is factual. That’s the only area that I come in,” he said.
His comments distinguish between the funds Obi allegedly left in government accounts and the broader financial position of Anambra State, which would require a separate assessment of the state’s assets, loans and other liabilities at the point of handover.