“Let the Books Be Examined”: The Letter in Peter Obi’s Name That He Says He Never Wrote
A letter to the Obi of Onitsha, on campaign letterhead and carrying what looks like Peter Obi’s signature, spread on social media in the middle of the Anambra debt fight. The same day, he called it a fabrication and the signature a forgery. Nobody has said who made it.
The letter is dated 19 September 2026. So is the denial.
On Saturday evening Peter Obi posted a disclaimer on X. A letter was circulating in his name, he wrote, purportedly sent to His Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha, about political and financial matters in Anambra State. He called it entirely false and malicious, and he attached two images: the letter as it was being shared, and the same page with FAKE stamped across it.
“…the signature appended to the letter is completely forged.”Peter Obi, on X, 19 September 2026
He asked the public and the media to disregard it. Denied
What the page says
We describe the letter because a forgery is easier to spot once you know what it looks like. Every word of it is disowned by the man whose name is at the bottom.
- The letterheadA campaign emblem reading “OK Movement · Obi/Kwankwaso 2027,” not a personal or office letterhead.
- The addressee“His Majesty, Obi of Onitsha.” The monarch is not named.
- The heading“The Future of Ndigbo is Bleak.”
- The subjectThe public exchanges between Governor Charles Soludo’s administration and Mr Obi’s former one over Anambra’s “financial records and liabilities,” followed by three short lines: let the records be opened, let the books be examined, let every question be answered with evidence.
- The sign-off“Son of the soil,” a handwritten signature dated the same day, and the titles former governor and NDC presidential candidate.
Nothing in it is an admission of anything. Its effect, if believed, would be different: it shows Mr Obi carrying a political quarrel to a traditional ruler, under a heading that declares his own people’s future bleak, in the very week Anambra published loan records against him.
Why this week
The timing is the story. Five days earlier Anambra’s finance commissioner said the state was still repaying loans from Mr Obi’s years. Mr Obi answered that he would stop campaigning if anyone proved he left debt. The state released loan records; his former Secretary to the State Government released the 2014 handover letter. We have set those two documents side by side here.
Into that argument dropped a page that borrows its language, “let the books be examined,” and puts it in his mouth, addressed to the most prominent throne in the state.
That matters beyond one candidate. When a forged letter circulates beside genuine records, readers lose the ability to tell the two apart, and every authentic document released afterwards is easier to wave away. Nobody disputes that the handover letter is a real document. The loan summary comes from a government. This page comes from nowhere.
What the record does not show
- Who made itNo person or group has been identified as the author, by Mr Obi or by anyone else. We make no suggestion as to who it was.
- The palaceWe have found no statement from the Obi of Onitsha or his palace on whether any such letter was received.
- The movementNo statement from the group named on the letterhead appears in what we reviewed.
- Independent examinationThe forgery claim is Mr Obi’s. No forensic examination of the signature has been published. We have no reason to doubt his account, and nothing on the page corroborates the letter as genuine.
- A complaintWe have seen no report that the matter has been referred to the police.
Whether the palace speaks, whether the first account to post the letter is traced, and whether anyone reports the forgery to the police. Forging a signature is a crime under Nigerian law.
Sources
- Peter Obi on X, “DISCLAIMER: Fake Letter Circulating in My Name,” with two images, 19 September 2026 · x.com
- Premium Times, “Peter Obi’s SSG reacts to debt controversy, releases document,” 19 September 2026 · premiumtimesng.com
- Premium Times, “Anambra govt releases loan records, insists Peter Obi left debts,” 16 September 2026 · premiumtimesng.com
The letter described and pictured here has been disowned by Peter Obi, who says it is fabricated and the signature forged. The Nigeria Files reproduces it only in the stamped form he published, so that readers can recognise it, and does not present any part of it as his words. We do not know who created it and we accuse no one. Statuses are editorial labels, not findings. Corrections and documented responses will be published.