By Ayodele Oni

The Presidency has demanded from former Anambra State Governor and candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, (NDC), Peter Obi, whether he will withdraw from presidential race, now that Anambra State Government has released details of indebtedness of his administration in the state.

Reacting to the ongoing dispute between  presidential candidate of the NDC and the state government over the debts and financial liabilities, it added that the Anambra State Government has now responded with claims concerning liabilities allegedly left by the former governor’s administration.

Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a post on X on Wednesday, said Obi claimed to have left Anambra without debt and challenged him to follow through on his pledge to quit the presidential race if his claim was disproved.

Onanuga wrote, “Peter Obi claimed he left Anambra with a clean slate of debt and even threatened to quit the presidential race if his claims were proven otherwise.

“Now, the Anambra government has confronted him with facts and figures showing he owed Water Corporation workers, teachers, and pension and gratuities, and had also borrowed for frivolous things.

“The ball is back in his court. Will he follow through on his threat by quitting the race?” he asked.

The reaction followed a fresh response by the Anambra State Government to Obi’s Tuesday denial of claims that his administration left behind inherited debts, including a ₦2bn ecological fund, contractor liabilities and unpaid salaries, gratuities and pensions.

Obi had said his administration cleared more than ₦35bn in historical gratuities and arrears and left office without outstanding salary, pension or gratuity obligations.

He also disputed the government’s claim concerning the ecological fund, saying more than ₦2.13bn was left untouched in a First Bank account for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.

However, in a statement on Wednesday, Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Law Mefor, disputed Obi’s account, saying the account he identified was an Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Revenue Account and not an ecological fund account.

Mefor revealed the government obtained a certified printout of the account and claimed that “from 2011 when the account was opened until date, there has never been any such amount—whether as inflow or balance—in the account.”

Obi had challenged anyone who could establish that his account of the state’s finances was incorrect, saying, “If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning.

The Peter Obi Media Office says it has become aware of reports that approximately 600tq university academics have endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s bid for the 2027 Presidential Election.

In a statement signed by its Spokesperson, Idris Zekeri Jnr, POMR said it finds the development profoundly troubling. It pointed out that it should be recognised for what it signifies: an early attempt to build and legitimise a network of partisan actors ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

The statement reads in part: “These individuals are not just 600 private citizens expressing their political preferences; they belong to an institution that has frequently provided electoral officials, including returning officers. Their public backing for the incumbent consequently raises a serious and unavoidable question: is the framework for manipulating the 2027 election already being established? We have seen this pattern before. Electoral rigging does not suddenly occur on election day; it begins months or even years earlier through the identification, cultivation, and placement of individuals capable of influencing the process when votes are finally cast.

“That is why Nigerians must remain vigilant now. When academics who might be assigned sensitive electoral responsibilities openly organise to endorse the very candidate whose election they might later help oversee, the risk of conflict of interest is evident. This sets the stage for a compromised electoral process and undermines public trust in the impartiality of those who may be responsible for announcing the results.

“Let no one deceive Nigerians: preparations for electoral manipulation may start long before voting begins. We therefore urge INEC to release the names of all 600 + academics involved in this or any other political endorsement and to formally prohibit them from serving as Returning Officers, Collation Officers, or electoral staff during the 2027 general elections.

“INEC must also publish the complete list of all prospective Collation and Returning Officers well in advance of future elections, allowing civil society, political parties, and the public to evaluate their political neutrality. We further call on university governing councils and academic bodies nationwide to adopt strict conflict- of- interest rules that prevent staff from using their professional academic positions to facilitate partisan political mobilisation.

“Nigerians are watching. The machinery for rigging must not be allowed to take root before the election even begins. The people must choose their leaders, and the outcome must be decided by their votes—not by a pre- arranged electoral network.”