Soludo presents N606.9 billion 2025 budget to Anambra assembly

Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has presented a N606.9 billion 2025 budget proposal to the Anambra House of Assembly.

Mr Soludo made the presentation on Tuesday at the Assembly Chambers in Awka, the state capital.

The event was also streamed live on the governor’s Facebook page.

The 2025 budget

Christened “the budget of changing gears 2.0,” the 2025 budget recorded a 48 per cent increase from the N410 billion 2024 budget presented by Mr Soludo in November last year.

The governor, during the presentation, said that the 2025 budget has a recurrent expenditure of N139.5 billion, accounting for 23 per cent, while capital expenditure stood at N467.5 billion, which accounts for 77 per cent, representing a budget deficit of N148.3 billion.

“With this budget, we are laying the groundwork for a thriving and sustainable future for many generations to come,” the governor said.

He said the budget deficit represents 24 per cent of the total budget. It was 30 per cent in the 2024 budget.

“As in the 2024 budget, the deficit is expected to be funded through revenue growth or borrowing from financial institutions. So far in both 2023 and 2024, we did not borrow to finance budget deficits,” he said.

“Depending on the execution in 2025, we may still not borrow to fund the deficit.”

The governor said the 2024 budget helped his administration to record some modest achievements in the state.

He stressed that the macroeconomic conditions under which the state government had to implement the 2024 budget had been challenging, considering the harsh economic realities caused by petrol subsidy removal.

“Inflation has continued in double digits, with significant pressures on costs of living and cost of governance,” he said.

No time for politics

The Independent National Electoral Commission recently fixed the next governorship election in Anambra for 8 November 2025.

Mr Soludo said, although many politicians will be focusing on politics, he will focus on delivering his administration’s agenda.

“For sure, 2025 is a governorship election year in Anambra State. Yes, while the politicians will be focusing on politics, we will be intensely and intentionally focusing 100% on the execution of our multi-faceted agenda with a deadline,” he said.

Dwindling IGR and cutting cost of governance

Mr Soludo, for the umpteenth time, lamented that the Anambra’s Internally Generated (IGR) was decreasing.

“Our IGR has been grossly underperforming, and as of October 2024, budget performance stood at about 50 per cent pro rata, and we still have resisted the temptation to borrow.

“In 2025, we have projected an average monthly revenue of N5 billion, which will result in a total IGR of N60 billion,” he stated.

“Currently, we are averaging only N2.5 billion per month, which is well below the state’s capacity. In the coming weeks, there will be a renewed effort to strengthen our revenue generation capacity.”

The governor stressed that to keep his administration afloat, he had cut the cost of governance in the state.

“We hope to maximise strategic partnerships with the federal government, the international community, and the private sector and communities,” he stated.

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The poor, vulnerable

Mr Soludo said the needs of the poor and vulnerable are addressed in the 2025 budget.

“More than 100,000 households will receive ten or more seedlings of coconut, palm, ukwa, pawpaw, soursop, and other crops per household as we did in 2024.

“We will also provide grants to micro-businesses across 326 wards in the state as part of our commitment to our party mantra ‘Onye Aghana Nwanneya,’” the governor said.

“In 2025, we plan to expand our One-Youth-Two-Skills program to accommodate more youths and empower them accordingly.”