The Anambra State Government has released a 2024 official document showing approval for the release of N473 million as the first tranche of salary arrears.
According to the document, the arrears were owed to former workers and pensioners of the defunct Anambra State Water Corporation and the Anambra State Environmental Protection Agency (ANSEPA).
The document, shared by the state government on Thursday as “PART 2: EVIDENCE PETER OBI LIED,” forms part of its continuing dispute with former Governor Peter Obi over claims about outstanding salaries and other financial obligations inherited by subsequent administrations.
According to the document, the payment followed an out-of-court settlement between the Anambra State Government and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), signed on February 6, 2024.
The settlement provided for a first payment of N473 million in 2024, with the remaining N1.09 billionto be paid in subsequent tranches. The document states that the N473 million was to be released from funds garnished in a Fidelity Bank account to facilitate the first payment and “ameliorate the suffering of these workers.”
The document further shows a request to the governor for approval of the N473 million payment, with the funds to be processed through the state government payroll system. A handwritten endorsement on the document indicates approval and directs that it be forwarded to the Accountant-General.
The settlement covered salary arrears involving workers of the defunct Water Corporation and ANSEPA.
The Anambra government presented the agreement as evidence that some salary obligations remained unresolved after Obi left office in March 2014.
The latest disclosure comes amid an escalating exchange between the Soludo administration and Obi over the former governor’s record on debts, salaries, pensions and other liabilities.
The state government has alleged that Obi did not leave office with all outstanding obligations settled, while Obi has maintained that his administration cleared substantial arrears inherited from previous governments.
The N473 million approval documented in 2024, therefore, provides a specific record of the settlement and the payment arrangement, although the document itself establishes the approval and release process rather than independently proving that the entire tranche was subsequently disbursed.
