The governor said his administration has earmarked N13 billion to establish one agro-industrial processing zone in Bende, Ukwa and Umunneochi local government areas.
Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, on Tuesday, presented a budget estimate of N750 billion for the 2025 fiscal year to the Abia House of Assembly.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the budget is tagged, "Budget of Sustained Momentum".
Speaking at the presentation on the floor of the house, Mr Otti said the 2025 proposal represented about a 30 per cent increase from the 2024 figures and a testament to his administration's progressive aspirations.
He said the key variables had been aggregated to keep the government on the right trajectory to sustain socio-economic development in the state.
He said: "We have taken into account, major economic headwinds, such as inflation and exchange rate instability, the two complex subjects that have dealt very harsh blows to our fiscal plans and proposals.
"At any rate, we remain optimistic that the economic environment will be more stable in the New Year even as we work hard to control the variables that are within our powers.
"In the 2025 financial year, N611.7 billion, representing 82 per cent of the entire budget outlay, will be channelled into capital projects to continue to drive the long-term socio-economic transformation of Abia.
"This is to build on the momentum that had already been recorded in the last 18 months since we assumed office.
"Furthermore, N138.6 billion, representing 18 per cent of the total envelope, shall be channelled into recurrent expenditures to cover personnel cost, social benefits, overhead costs and debt servicing.
"Looking at the figures for 2024, we are raising the size of the proposed capital expenditure for 2025 by 29 per cent, while the outlay for recurrent spend is raised by 34 per cent," the governor said.
He also said the government earmarked N13 billion for the establishment of one agro-industrial processing zone in Bende, Ukwa and Umunneochi local government areas.
He emphasised that the projects would facilitate the government's plan for the agriculture sector and drive important economic outcomes in the sector.
According to him, the government had strategically budgeted monies over N55 billion for various ongoing and new road projects in the 2025 financial year across the 17 LGAs.
Road projects captured in the budget proposal
Governor Otti said that a combined outlay for the sector would be used to construct bridges and new roads and reconstruct and maintain existing road infrastructure in various communities and similar projects.
"Some of the landmark road projects captured in the budget include the Umuikaa-Umune-Omoba Road, Owerrinta-Umuikaa Road, Ohanze Ntighauzo-Abala Ibeme Akirikaobu Road, Mbala-Umuaku-Ngodo Road, Omuma Road with a spur to Old Express, among others.
"We have also made provision for the construction of 170 kilometres of rural roads across the LGAs, with a target of 10 kilometres per local government.
"In Umuahia, we have made provisions for the rehabilitation of several road projects, including the Umueze-ago-Mbom, Nkata-Amaeke, Ahiaekeokwuta-Bende, Agbo-Umueze, Umueze Mbom, Umuoji, Umuafai-Lodu-Ahiaeke, Amauzukwu-Mbom Roads, among others.
"The new year will also see to the completion of many of our signature road projects, the most prominent being the Port Harcourt Road, Aba, which will be completed in the first quarter of 2025.
"The Umuahia-Uzuakoli Road, Ndi Okereke-Arochukwu Road and others will also be due for completion within the new year," he said.
He further said that in fulfilment of his campaign promise, N4 billion would be channelled into the revamping and reticulation of Kilometres of pipelines for the Umuahia Regional Water Scheme to provide potable water to residential homes and communities.
Mr Otti also said that the health and education sectors would receive about 35 per cent of the budgetary outlay, with 15 per cent of the entire budget going to the health sector, while basic and secondary education would get 14.63 per cent and tertiary education 5.42 per cent.
He said: "The highlights of the projects to be executed with the passage of this budget include the rehabilitation and supply of equipment to four General Hospitals for N13 billion.
"Also, N9 billion will go into the purchase of medical equipment for various health facilities, and N8.6 billion will be channelled into the construction of the permanent site of Abia State College of Health Science and Management Technology, Aba.
"Furthermore, N5 billion will be used for construction projects at the new College of Nursing Sciences at the Umunneato General Hospital, while another N3 billion will go into the construction of classroom blocks at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Amachara."
He said that education remains at the centre of his administration's rebuilding agenda, "because a robust education sector would be government's greatest gift to future generations".
He expressed his administration's resolve to invest massively in education to make Abia children competitive and ready for the demands of the new world.
"In keeping with the determination of this administration to make the learning environment safe for the pupils and their teachers, we have earmarked N29.5 billion for the construction of perimeter fencing in 262 public schools.
"This will not just keep criminals and marauders away from the schools, it will also curb the menace of appropriation of school land by unscrupulous individuals.
"Also captured in the 2025 draft budget is a proposal to spend N14.6 billion on the construction of reading rooms and libraries across the 184 wards in the state.
"This initiative is projected to revive the reading culture and encourage our people to discover the treasure in books," he said.
Mr Otti said the budget estimate was prepared with the active input of the people of Abia at the various citizens' engagement sessions organised by the state Ministry of Budget and Planning.
According to him, the budget had been comprehensively put together to capture the most important development priorities of the people of Abia.
How the budget would be funded
Mr Otti said the government planned to fund the budget through increased internally generated revenue (IGR), statutory allocation, grants, value-added tax and borrowing from domestic and multilateral channels.
"We project an increase in the state's IGR collection by 213 per cent to N100.6 billion, a 96 per cent rise in statutory allocation to N183.4 billion, a 55 per cent increase in grants to N25.5 billion and a 35 per cent rise in VAT to N55.1 billion.
"We shall finance the balance of N364.1 billion, representing about 51 per cent of the total envelope, through borrowing from domestic and multilateral channels," he said.
Mr Otti said the government did not borrow funds in the past fiscal year to finance recurrent expenditures in the state's budget.
He also said that "borrowing shall happen only when necessary and would be deployed for the execution of projects that will ultimately repay the loans".
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He further said that the government had taken steps to pay off old debts while maintaining zero indebtedness to contractors.
He said that N18.9 billion had been earmarked for social benefits in the 2025 fiscal year.
"We shall use this sum to cater for the most economically vulnerable groups in our communities.
"This will be used to provide structured support to individuals and families in great need as we work to build a society, where no one or group is left behind," Mr Otti said.
He affirmed his administration's commitment to sustain its efforts in creating an all-inclusive growth model for the state.
Meanwhile, the governor has urged the citizens to continually support the government by paying their taxes and statutory fees.
What the speaker of the Abia Assembly said
In his response, the Speaker of the Assembly, Emmanuel Emeruwa, said the developmental milestones recorded in the past year indicated that the budget of 2024 was meticulously appropriated and executed.
Mr Emeruwa also said that the budget indicated that the government had adopted a strategic approach towards sustaining development, with 82 per cent allocated to capital expenditure and 18 per cent to recurrent.
"The governor is taking the state to greater heights in infrastructure development and transforming Abia into an investors' haven to sustain the state's economy.
"We assure you that we will always cooperate with the executive in the execution of the mandate from the citizens to move the state forward," he said.
(NAN)
