The political disagreement between former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo intensified on Monday, with Obi’s media office accusing the state government of devoting excessive attention to the former governor ahead of the 2027 general election.
The latest salvo followed a message from the Anambra state government, urging voters to reject Obi and his political platform.
In a post managed by the New Media office of Governor Soludo, the government accused Obi of working against the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and urged APGA supporters to resist him.
Responding in a statement issued on Monday, the spokesman for Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR), Idris Zekeri Jnr., dismissed the campaign against Obi as a distraction from the business of governing the state.
The statement, titled “Stop Chasing Shadows,” accused the Soludo administration of being preoccupied with Obi rather than addressing infrastructure, education, environmental and public-safety concerns in Anambra.
Zekeri alleged that officials within the administration had complained about the governor’s focus on Obi during meetings of the State Executive Council.
He said the development was symptomatic of what his camp considered an unhealthy political preoccupation.
The POMR spokesman also challenged the state government to concentrate on its record in office instead of attacking Obi.
According to him, the administration should devote more attention to roads, erosion control, public safety and other pressing challenges confronting residents.
The statement also invoked recent debates over Anambra’s performance in the Phillips Consulting State Performance Index (pSPI).
The revised 2026 assessment placed Anambra 27th among the 36 states, although the state’s trajectory requires context: the comparable series places Anambra eighth in 2024, 34th in 2025 and 27th in 2026. Phillips Consulting also revised its methodology for the 2026 edition and incorporated newly available 2025 audited financial statements.
Obi’s camp interpreted the latest ranking as evidence of a decline in the state’s performance and contrasted it with the resources currently available to the government.
The administration, however, has previously disputed Phillips Consulting’s assessments, questioning aspects of the methodology and arguing that the rankings do not adequately reflect its investments and reforms.
The Soludo administration has, among other things, highlighted its investments in roads, education and healthcare.
The state Ministry of Education said the government has introduced free education from nursery through senior secondary school and expanded infrastructure and digital-learning initiatives.
POMR nevertheless argued that the resources available to the state should translate into visible improvements in the lives of residents.
Zekeri also revisited the record of Obi’s administration, particularly its urban-planning initiatives.
He said the former governor’s government worked with UN-Habitat on master and structural plans for major cities and argued that subsequent administrations should have built on those foundations.
The Obi camp further alleged that the current administration had mobilised hundreds of online operatives to attack the former governor.
However, no independent evidence was provided in the statement to substantiate the allegation.
The statement also criticised the government’s handling of flooding and environmental challenges.
It claimed that recent discussions on flood preparedness had raised questions about the implementation of weather and disaster warnings. These claims could not be independently established from the material accompanying the statement.
The political exchange comes amid a widening contest over Obi’s influence in Anambra and his role in national politics ahead of the 2027 elections. Obi, who served as Anambra governor from 2006 to 2013, has remained a prominent political figure in the South-East and nationally.
POMR pointed to large gatherings involving Obi, including events in Nnewi and Adazi-Ani, as evidence of what it described as his continuing grassroots support in the state.
The office therefore called on traditional rulers, religious leaders, elders and other stakeholders in Anambra to intervene and encourage the government to focus on governance rather than political confrontation.
The statement said the central issue should be the delivery of public services and measurable development rather than what it described as continuing attacks on the former governor.
For the Soludo administration and Obi’s camp, the dispute increasingly reflects two competing narratives about Anambra: one centred on the record of the former governor and his continuing political influence, and the other on the current administration’s claim of ongoing reforms and investments.
With the 2027 political contest already shaping public discourse, the latest exchange suggests that the battle over Obi’s legacy — and Soludo’s record in office — is likely to remain a major feature of Anambra’s political conversation.
