Obi also called on the media to ensure that political parties and candidates are allowed to campaign freely across the country, warning that intimidation and restrictions on political activities could undermine democracy.

“I wish to assure the public that I have no disagreement with my dear elder brother, Governor Soludo, or with any governor in Nigeria. I am not seeking the office of governor in any state, and I will not seek that position again, even if the Constitution is amended.

The former governor said he left office in March 2014 without owing salaries, pensions, gratuities or contractors whose projects had been completed, certified and verified.

Former governor of Anambra State and presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has rejected claims that he left the state with $123 million in debt, saying he handed over a financially strong government with more than $150 million in funds.

The campaign council argued that borrowing was not in itself improper if channelled into development, but insisted the revelations exposed a pattern of dishonesty by a man who had built his political brand on austerity. “But for a man who prides himself on being austere and has frequently claimed he left the state with a clean bill of health, the revelations confirmed what has long been held: Obi is an irredeemable liar, a mediocre governor, unfit for leadership anywhere,” the statement said.