The Presidency has reacted to the ongoing dispute between former Anambra State Governor and presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, and the state government over the state’s debts and financial liabilities.

Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a post on X on Wednesday, said Obi had 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.”

He added that the Anambra State Government had responded with claims concerning liabilities allegedly left by the former governor’s administration.

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,” Onanuga said.

“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 said 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.”

Akwa Ibom State Government has outlawed the use of ambulances to transport corpses for burial, describing the practice as a public health threat.

Only hearses may now convey bodies for interment, according to the Commissioner for Health, Ekem John.

John made the disclosure on Thursday during the monthly media briefing organised by the Ministry of Information. He was flanked by the Commissioner for Information, Aniekan Umanah, and the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ekerete Udoh.

The commissioner described the measure as one of the most significant reforms in the state’s health sector. He said Governor Umo Eno had institutionalised the Akwa Ibom State Emergency Medical Service Ambulance System, elevating it from policy to a statutory agency.

“Through this law, the state government has now criminalised and outlawed the use of ambulances to carry corpses,” John stated. “In the last one year and six months, under the reforms of His Excellency, Governor Umo Eno, we have returned our ambulance operations to the level found in the Western world.

“You will not find any government ambulance at any burial site. The law is very clear: whether it is a privately owned ambulance, mission ambulance or government ambulance, you cannot carry corpses. Corpses are carried by hearses, and when you use our ambulance to carry corpses, you are creating a public health threat to the rest of the public.”

He warned that any ambulance found transporting a corpse would be impounded, regardless of ownership. “The law now empowers government officials to impound the ambulance. So, let people know that when they go to hire an ambulance for their burial, those ambulances can be intercepted on the road.”

John also revealed that about nine bills had been forwarded to the State House of Assembly for consideration. The proposed legislation covers hospital governance, public health security, HIV prevention, protection and anti-discrimination, and public health standards regulation.

Once the health standards regulatory bill becomes law, he said, the relevant agency would set minimum acceptable standards for all health facilities in the state, requiring hospitals to meet specified obligations before they could operate.

Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has responded to comments by Afrobeats star David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, over the forthcoming Osun State governorship election, advising the singer to prepare to sign his uncle, Governor Ademola Adeleke, as a dancer after the poll.

Davido had, during a press conference on Wednesday, appealed to an unnamed politician from Imo State to allow a free and fair election in Osun. He said he had heard rumours of plans to interfere in the August 15 governorship poll and urged the politician to promote peace so that the people of Osun could freely elect their preferred candidate. Although the singer did not name Uzodimma, the remarks were widely interpreted as directed at the Imo governor.

Reacting in a statement issued on Thursday by his Senior Special Assistant on Electronic and Creative Media, Ambrose Nwaogwugwu, Uzodimma said Davido should direct his appeal to Osun voters rather than to him.

The governor predicted defeat for Ademola Adeleke, who is seeking re-election, claiming the electorate had lost confidence in his administration.

“The reality is that Governor Ademola Adeleke has, in the opinion of many, failed woefully in the discharge of his responsibilities. This is why many Osun voters are determined to vote him out in the August 15, 2026, governorship election,” the statement said.

“The signals emerging from across Osun State are clear. There is a growing indication that a significant number of voters have rejected the current administration and are prepared to embrace a new direction.”

Uzodimma further advised Davido to begin preparing his uncle for life after office instead of making emotional appeals.

“Rather than attempting to influence Governor Hope Uzodimma through emotional appeals, Davido should concentrate on helping his uncle prepare for life after office, as the people of Osun appear ready to cast their votes massively in favour of the APC candidate,” the statement added.

In a pointed remark aimed at both the singer and his uncle, the governor said: “Perhaps, Davido should also begin making preparations to officially sign his uncle as a dancer in his musical band, because judging by the mood of the electorate, he may well be out of a political job after the August 15, 2026, governorship election.”

The exchange comes days ahead of the August 15 governorship election in Osun State, where Governor Ademola Adeleke is seeking a second term.