Leveraging the 2025 budget to accelerate Abia’s development strides
– By Eagle Okoro
A budget is an economic term, defined as an estimate of expected income and expenditure for a specific period, usually one financial year.
The workability of a budget requires strict finanacial discipline, transparency and genuine commitment to effective implementation of its provisions. This is critical to the success or otherwise of a budget achieving its objectives.
The Abia State 2025 budget outlay of N750.2 billion has ambitious provisions of N611.7 billion, representing 82 per cent, for capital projects, and N138.6 billion, representing 18 per cent, for recurrent expenditure.
The two strategic and critical sectors of education and health got the lion share of 20 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. This is absolutely remarkable and unprecedented in the history of annual budgeting in the state.
The 2025 budget, therefore, stands out as a clear departure from what used to be a child’s play in previous state budgets, which largely demonatrated the unseriousness of the past administrations toward achieving genuine and sustainable development in the state.
And without mincing words, the robust budgetary allocations to those critical sectors are obvious indicators of the present administration’s incredible determination to sustain the ongoing revolution toward providing essential physical infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, and landmark transformation in health, education and security.
In a speech while assenting to the Appropriation Bill on December 27, 2025, Gov. Chioma Alex Otti said that the budget “underscores the commitment of his administration to transform the state’s trajectory in achieving infrastructure development”.
He described the allocation of 82 per cent of the budget to capital expenditures and 18 per cent to recurrent expenditure as “a strategic move to address the critical infrastructure needs of the state.
“Our push for infrastructure development is demonstrated in this budget because when you have capital expenditure over 80 per cent, it speaks to what you want to do with infrastructure, things that would out-last all of us,” he said. This gesture is simply commendable!
The governor gave a firm assurance that with the budget outlay, the all-important, economically viable roads, including Port Harcourt Road, Aba, Umuahia – Uzuakoli – Abiriba – Ohafia Road, Ohafia-Arochukwu Road, Okobo-Abam Road, the Omenuko Bridge, and Nunya Road, would be completed.
He also assured the citizenry that other road projects already awarded as well as the renovation and retrofitting of hospitals and schools would be done and dusted this current fiscal year
He further said that the budget would give the administration “the impetus to continue to fire on all cylinders to ensure that our people are living a good life”.
Gladly, no sooner had he signed the appropriation bill into an Act than he rolled out a comprehensive health programme that has the capacity to fundamentally revolutionise and transform Abia’s health sector.
The programme, codenamed “Project Ekwueme”, is aimed at achieving a total overhaul of the healthcare system at the grassroots through a comprehensive rehabilitation and retrofitting of 200 Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs) in the state.
The implication is that all the health centres in the 184 wards in the state would experience facelift in physical structures and “operational infrastructure” that would not only make them standard but absolutely functional.
The project was formally launched by the governor on January 20, 2025 at the Ngwu PHC in Uzuakoli, Bende Local Government Area, and has an execution period of 100 days.
Speaking at the ceremony, Gov. Otti said that building an effective healthcare system in Abia remained central to his governance agenda.
According to him, the project, when completed, will help to reduce exposure to quacks, fake drugs and effectively improve good health and longevity for the people.
He promised that government would install independent power supply from renewable energy sources, efficient water supply system, and other support infrastructure necessary to
improve the operational environment, preserve drug supplies and medical consumables, and ultimately save cost.
To demonstrate how dear Project Ekwueme is to him, he told newsmen in his January Media Chat, “The Governor Explains”, that
a staggering N10 billion was already “sleeping” in the account of the Ministry of Health” for the execution of the lofty project.
It is gladdening to the heart seeing the seriousness and speed in the execution of the multiple projects going on simultaneously in the three senatorial districts. This speaks to the fact that the contractors were fully mobilised and working hard and round the clock to deliver in record time. No excuses, no alibi and no fear of possible abandoned projects.
Beyond working all day without stop on the road projects, the quality of work being delivered by the contractors stands out as exemplary and cannot be disputed.
All of that have continued to attract accolades for the governor and his government.
The massive reconstruction of the Bank Road, begining from Okpara Square leading to the Government House, Umuahia down to Akanu Ibiam Road, as well as the Club Road, begining from Okpara Square to Co-operative and Isigate, with a traffic light, already installed and waiting to be activated, signposts the vision of Gov. Otti for Umuahia to look aesthetically good as, indeed, the capital of God’s own state.
Moreso, Craneburg Construction Company, the contractors handling the reconstruction of the 5.95-Kilometer Umuahia-Onuimo Bridge Road, has effectively mobilised to site. At the moment, bulldozers have been deployed and are currently pulling down and evacuating debris from buildings already marked for removal.
The project commenced from the Abia Tower of Peace on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway and terminates at the Onuimo Bridge (the boundary between Abia and Imo), which indeed is a federal road, linking Abia directly with Imo State.
Government has also been impressive on security through its massive and elaborate support to the security agencies in the state.
Recently, the governor handed over 20 vehicles to aid their fight against crime and to achieve maximum security for Abia residents and visitors alike.
Precisely, on December 7, 2024, he presented 20 brand new Toyota Hilux Vans to security agencies in the state.
Speaking at the presentation in Umuahia, he said that the gesture was intended to sustain the progress achieved in security, especially during the Christmas season.
To further strengthen the capacity of the police to completely rid the state of violent crimes, the governor, on January 30, handed over five refurbished Armourd Personnel Carriers retrofitted with modern communication gadgets.
Handing over the heavy crime-fighting equipment to the Commissioner of Police, Mr Danladi Isa, the governor said, “Five of them are now fully retrofitted and as good as new, while the last one is undergoing final repairs in Abuja”.
And, truly speaking, residents of the state, including the holiday makers and visitors went to sleep with their two eyes closed during the Yuletide.
The comprehensive renovation and retrofitting of the Police Headquarters on Bende Road, Umuahia is nearing completion. The gesture aimed at providing a conducive work environment for the rank and file and boosting their morale in dutifully discharging their constitutional mandate of securing lives and property.
The administration has also made substantial impact in its commitment toward reforming the education sector with the renovation and retrofitting of all the primary and secondary schools in the state.
In November 2024, the governor rolled out free and compulsory education at the Primary and Junior Secondary School levels.
He promised that the policy could be extended to the Senior Secondary School level “as soon as the state’s economy improves”. This is in alignment with his agenda on education.
He, therefore, urged parents and guardians to take advantage of the new policy to send their wards to school. He warned that from January 2025, “it would be a punishable offence for any parent or guardian, whose ward is seen hawking goods on the streets during school hours”.
There is no gainsaying that the implementation of the 2025 Appropriation Act has taken off on a significantly solid and impressive footing toward sustaining the momentum of development as aptly captured by its theme.
The great impact of the people-based budget so far recorded in the first quarter simply points to a greater milestone that lies ahead for the good people of Abia, who are already salivating and waiting for the real menu that is to come.
Without any fear of contradiction, Gov. Otti is sincerely and honestly deploying Abia money to work for Abians. What he truly requires is the support of the people rather than distraction. And, of course, with God on his side, a new Abia is steadily and rapidly being delivered. To God be the glory!
– Eagle Okoro is a Public Affairs analyst and writes from Umuahia