Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki
Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, has presented the sum of N396 billion, before the House of Assembly as the fiscal budget for the year 2025.
The appropriation bill is christened “Budget of Economic and Social Development.”
A breakdown shows that N112 billion is proposed for the recurrent expenditure, while N284 is allocated to capital expenditure.
Presenting the budget, Nwifuru, a former Speaker of the Assembly, noted that the health sector will get a 111% increase when compared with the 2024 budget.
According to him, the 2025 health budget is N39,012,563,000.00 which is way higher than the NN18,487,118,000.00 budgeted for the 2024 fiscal year.
Similarly, Education sector will get N70,143,386,000.00 in the 2025 budget, which is a 17 percent increase from the N59,566,375,522.89 the sector got in the 2024 budget.
He said that 33.64 percent of the budget is expected to come from the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations to the state including Value Added Tax (VAT), Statutory Allocation and others totalling about N133,398,700,000.00.
The internally generated revenue (IGR) will account for N28,499,409,620.00 or just 7.19 percent of the budget.
Grants and other donor agencies are expected to raise 11 percent of the budget or N45,690,900,000.00 while N8bn was earmarked as opening balance.
Capital Development Fund is expected to supply N45.64 percent or N181,000,000,000.00 of the budget funds.
The governor noted that while the task of governance is not an easy one, the task of meeting people’s needs is even more challenging due to multiplicity of human wants.
He solicited for the patience of the people to enable him deliver on his people’s charter of hope manifestoe.
“We are determined to steadily pursue our commitment as outlined in the People’s Charter of Needs, the guiding compass of our administration to logical conclusion.
“We acknowledge that we are not yet where we ought to be, but we have made significant progress. We will not relent until we reach the shore.
“My administration therefore solicits understanding and cooperation of all Ebonyi people,” he said.
The governor urged the Lawmakers to give the bill speedy and favourable consideration for the achievement of its lofty plans for the State and the people.
