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From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The Igbo Heroes and Icons Foundation (IHIF) has given the All Progressives Congress (APC) 24 hours to publish a comprehensive account of loans taken by the Federal Government, under President Bola Tinubu, in response to APC’s call for Mr. Peter Obi to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race.
The group issued the ultimatum while reacting to a statement credited to the APC Presidential Campaign Council and reported in the media.
The APC council, through its spokesman, Dele Alake, had cited figures released by the Anambra State government showing eight external borrowing facilities associated with Obi’s tenure as governor, with a contracted value of about $123.77 million. The state government claimed that the outstanding balance stood at about $92.35 million, equivalent to approximately N127.4 billion, as of June 30, 2026.
The APC said the figures contradict Obi’s long-standing claim that he left Anambra without debt and asked the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) to withdraw from the race.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Chinedu Nsofor, the Foundation said the controversy is being misrepresented. IHIF said the facilities being cited were not personal loans contracted by Obi, but development-financing arrangements negotiated by the Federal Government with international development institutions, with participating states implementing components of programmes covering malaria control, education, health, erosion management, and agricultural development.
The Foundation demanded complete documentation, including original financing agreements, borrower of record, terms of subsidiary arrangements, amounts actually disbursed to Anambra, project expenditure, and the balance attributable to the state. It said if accountability is being demanded of Obi, the same standard should apply to the incumbent administration.
The group challenged the Federal Government and the APC to publish a comprehensive account of borrowing undertaken since President Tinubu assumed office, including the purpose of each facility, amount received, projects financed, and current balance.
Citing Debt Management Office (DMO) data, the foundation noted that total public debt stood at N87.38 trillion as of June 30, 2023, and rose to N159.35 trillion by March 31, 2026, representing an increase of approximately N71.97 trillion in the published debt stock.
It, however, noted that the increase should not automatically be described as N71.97 trillion of new borrowing by the Tinubu administration, pointing out that the June 2023 figure included N22.712 trillion in securitised Ways and Means advances, and that the DMO has cautioned against presenting changes in overall debt stock as equivalent to fresh borrowing by one administration.
The foundation called for a consolidated account showing actual new borrowing, inherited liabilities, refinancing, securitisation, and changes arising from exchange-rate valuation. It also demanded a detailed public account of resources generated following the removal of petrol subsidy, referencing Federal Government disclosure that subsidy removal mobilised N15.8 trillion for the Federation between June 2023 and December 2025.
The government said N5.4 trillion accrued to the Federal Government while N10.4 trillion was distributed to states and local governments. The government also reported N3.1 trillion in additional independent revenue and N11.9 trillion in borrowing, producing N20.4 trillion in additional resources available to the Federal Government.
IHIF said the explanation that the funds were absorbed into general government resources is insufficient and wants a breakdown of what the Federal Government received, what was allocated to states and local governments, and what specific programmes were financed beyond emergency responses like the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative.
The group further asked that the same standard of documentary verification being demanded from Obi should be applied to all political actors, including records concerning the President’s educational qualifications and other publicly documented credentials.
“If one political actor is being challenged to open his books, the same standard should apply to everybody seeking the mandate of Nigerians,” the Foundation said.
It described the 24-hour ultimatum as a call for reciprocal transparency and an opportunity to move beyond accusations by publishing verifiable records on new federal borrowing since May 2023, inherited debt, refinancing, debt servicing, utilisation of subsidy-removal savings, and claims made about previous public offices.
