By Dr Reuben Onyishi(Ugoachataberu)
Governor Mbah of Enugu State has, by the budget he presented to the Enugu State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, 2nd December 2025, taken giant steps in the developmental trajectories of Enugu State. The budget sum is unheard of in the history of Enugu State, a whooping N1.62 trillion. It is stunning and amazing, given that Enugu is not an oil producing state that takes from the derivatives. As a matter of fact, Enugu had been regarded as a civil service state until Mbah came on board and turned the state around.
What the governor has done over the past two years is intentional and targets a humongous economic growth of the state. The intention is to make Enugu one of the best three subnational economies in Nigeria by revving up the GDP of the state to &30 billion, make Enugu the first choice of investment destination, tourism and living, and then ultimately reduce the state's poverty headcount index to zero per cent. Mbah, by every bit of his actions, is driven by these objectives.
Under Mbah's watch, the budget as at 2024 when he had fully taken over was (he assumed office in the middle of 2023) N521.5 billion, consisting of N414.3 billion capital expenditire, representing 79 per cent of the total budget sum, and N107.2 billion recurrent expenditure, representing 21 per cent of the entire budget sum. The budget aimed to engender disruptive economic growth, radical infrastrictural development, and efficient services. It was tagged the budget of "Disruptive Economic Growth." It was, indeed, disruptive as the state had never received such fiscal estimation in its life. Yet, it was morning on a creation day. The budget structure pointed to where the administration was headed for. Capital expenditure took a far larger chunk of the budget than recurrent expenditure. Needless to say, the budget did 100 per cent in performance, as it was prudently implemented.
Impatient with the growth plan, Mbah came up with yet another stunning budget outlay in 2025, tagged "Budget of Exponential Growth and Inclusive Prosperity" presented on 26th Novemeber, 2024, passed by the Enugu State House of Assembly and signed into law on 24 December, 2024 with a total of N971.84 billion, structured with a humongous sum of N837.9 billion slated for capital expenditure, representing 86 per cent of the total budget sum, while the sum of N133.1 billion, being 14 per cent of the expenditure plan, was projected for recurrent expenditure.
Looking at the previous budget of 2024, capital expenditure rose by over 100 per cent while recurrent expenditure was crashed to the abysmal low, from 21 per cent in the 2024 budget to 14 per cent in the 2025 budget. This was a signpost to Mbah's determination to channel the state's resources to infrastructural development with an eye on social services as education alone, as it was in the 2024 budget, securing 33 per cent of the entire budget sum.
How then did the 2025 budget fare. That will tell whether there is even any need to such an unheard-of estimate in 2026. FAAC projection for 2025 was 150 billion; the actual receipt was 230 billion. IGR would have exceeded 400 billion by the end of the year, which was 221.6 per cent increase from 2024 IGR. Total revenue came up to N836 billion. A total sum of N138 billion was spent on salaries, pensions and essential government services, which stood at 92 per cent performance. Capital projects took N667 billion, spent on roads, schools, hospitals, water infrastructure, transport terminals and revamped state assets. Now, looking at the budget summarily, a total of N971 billion was estimated, and the actual was N805 billion, leaving a performance rate of 82.9 per cent. So, the total budget implementation against N971 billion was 83 per cent approximately, meaning that almost everything provided for in the budget was met.
The 2026 budget is indeed a budget of Renewed Momentum, a quantum leap from the previous budgets, and a daring one at that, a whooping N1.62 trillion, being an increase of 66.5 per cent from the 2025 budget. The capital expenditure is projected at 1.2 trillion, which is 80 per cent of the entire budget sum and recurrent expenditure estimated at 321 billion, representing 20 per cent of the budget. FAAC receipts are projected at N387 billion, and IGR N870 billion. Capital receipt is estimated at N329 billion.
Meanwhile, looking at the sectoral breakdown of the budget, education, as it was in the two previous budgets, is getting 32.5 per cent. Admin sector is getting N128 billion while the economic sector is getting a copius sum of N825.9 billion. The social sector is projected to get N644 billion, taking 40 per cent of the budget.
From the budget, it is clear that Mbah is taking, this time, giant steps in the development of the state. He would build, this time, smart secondary schools, farm estates in the 260 wards of the state, build 1200 kilometres of urban roads, 10 kilometres of road in each of the 260 wards, build transport terminals at Emene, Udi, Awgu, 4-Corner and Obollo Afor, complete 40-kilometre Owo-Ubahu-Amankanu-Neke-Ikem dual carriage way,, complete the dualization of Abakapa Nike-Ugwuogo- Opi Nsukka Road, bring in 200 sedan for city taxi, procure 14 more airplanes for Enugu Air, bring the number of aircrafts in the fleet to 20; complete the C wing of the state secretariat, build 15000 mass housing units which is the first phase of the 30,000 housing units as planned; complete and fully equip the 260 type-2 hospitals, upgrade 51 secondary health facility and complete and fully equip the 300-bed Enugu International Hospital and structurally upgrade parklane. In sports, the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium and Awgu Games Village shall be refurbished in preparation for the hosting of the National Sports Festival. A total of 11 billion is budgeted for the second phase of security surveillance in 12 additional local governments, while Awhum waterfall and caves, Nsude and Ngwo pine forest, Akwuke sand beach shall all be revamped and zip lines built in some of them, the first of its kind in the nation.
Alas! It is massive what Mbah proposed to do this time, and, indeed, they shall all be done given that they are founded on already built assets. The New Enugu City, for instance, is expected to rake in , with mathematical precision, the sum of N300 billion. What all this means is that Mbah has really rejiged the economy of Enugu State and has opened up the state for utter development. Looking at this unprecedented big ticket budget, Enugu is taking its place in the annals of the big subnational economies in the country.Enugu has deeply entered the trillions in the order of Rivers and Lagos. Already, the state in 2024 became the best in fiscal viability in the country, following its humongous increase in IGR. While 2024 was valorised, the IGR came up to a stunning N400 billion in 2025, 221 per cent per cent quantum leap. It is not yet known to anyone, nor has it entered into the hearts of men what Mbah prepares for Enugu State. In four to eight years of Enugu under Mbah's watch, it shall be Uhuru.
