Oborevwori signs Delta’s N1.729tr 2026 budget into law

By : Monday Osanyade

Date: 16 December 2025 7:58pm WAT

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Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori

Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori

Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, on Tuesday signed into law the state’s N1.729 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill, marking one of the largest budgets in the state’s history and sharply raising expectations for delivery.

Tagged “Budget of Accelerating the MORE Agenda,” the spending plan represents a more than 70 per cent increase over the 2025 budget, a leap the administration insists is both ambitious and achievable.

The governor also assented to three other laws—the Delta State Social Investment Programme Law, the Delta State Colleges of Education Law, 2025, and the Delta State Anti-Terrorism and Anti-Cultism (Amendment) Law, 2025—signalling a broad policy push across welfare, education and security.

Oborevwori said the 2026 budget was “not just a budget of figures, but a budget of vision, action and expected deliverables,” promising that the state would “hit the ground running” in the new fiscal year. According to him, 70 per cent of the N1.729 trillion estimate has been earmarked for capital expenditure, with 30 per cent allocated to recurrent spending, a structure the government says reflects its commitment to infrastructure-led growth.

The governor argued that improved fiscal discipline and stronger internally generated revenue in 2025 justified the expanded budget size, claiming the state boosted revenue without imposing additional burdens on citizens. He said these gains were evidence that the administration’s economic reforms were yielding results.

Beyond the budget, Oborevwori said the newly signed laws were designed to deepen social protection, improve teacher training and strengthen the state’s security architecture.

The Social Investment Programme Law, he explained, provides a legal framework for equitable access to social interventions for vulnerable and underserved populations. The Colleges of Education Law, 2025, standardises operations of state-owned colleges and allows them to award both NCEs and education degrees, a move aimed at expanding the supply of qualified teachers.

The Anti-Terrorism and Anti-Cultism (Amendment) Law, the governor said, updates existing legislation to better reflect current security realities, as cult-related violence and organised crime remain persistent threats in parts of the state.

Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Emomotimi Guwor, said the bills were passed after “rigorous legislative engagement” and sector-by-sector scrutiny of the budget in line with the administration’s MORE Agenda. He noted that the amended security law addresses gaps in the original legislation, including the absence of a clear definition of cultism.

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