Gov Mbah presents N1.62trn 2026 budget

Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, on Tuesday, presented N1.62 trillion 2026 budget estimates to the Enugu State House of Assembly for consideration and approval.

The figure represents a 66.5 per cent increase over the N971 billion revised 2025 budget.

Dubbed the Budget of Renewed Momentum, Governor Mbah said the budget comprised a Capital Expenditure of N1,296,092,465,000, representing 80 per cent of the total budget, while the Recurrent Component stood at N321,305,000,000, representing 20 per cent of the budget totaling N1,617,397,465,000.

Mbah said the budget would be funded through a projected N870 billion Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, N387 billion would come from the Federal Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, while N329 billion is expected as Capital Receipts.

A sectoral breakdown of the budget shows that the Economic Sector would receive N825.9 billion, representing N51 per cent of the total budget, followed by the Social Sector (N644.7 billion), representing 40.1 per cent of the budget, while the Administration Sector, Justice Sector and Regional Sector got N128 billion, N15.8 billion, and N2 billion, respectively.

“Allocating N825.9 billion to the Economic Sector is strategic and deliberate. When we invest in agriculture, industry, and trade, we create jobs, reduce poverty, and generate revenue that strengthens the entire economy. The performance of this sector remains central to our vision of achieving a seven-fold GDP growth in Enugu State,” the governor explained.

Highlights of the Economic Sector include Roads/Infrastructure Sector where the governor plans to construct 1,200 urban roads and a significant number of rural roads, while also completing the ongoing 40-kilometre Owo-Ubahu-Amankanu-Neke-Ikem dual carriageway, dualisation of the Abakpa Nike – Ugwogo Nike – Ekwegbe – Opi-Nsukka Road, and the 21.65-kilometre Enugu-Abakaliki Expressway.

Concerning Transportation, Mbah announced that the state would acquire 14 additional aircraft to bring Enugu Air’s fleet to 20, noting that three additional planes would arrive before the end of 2025.

In the Agricultural Sector, he said the administration would, among others, step up the construction of 20-hectare Farm Estates in the 260 wards of the state, with some already underway.

In the Social Sector, education got the lion’s share of 32.27 per cent of the entire budget, following patterns of the 2024 and 2025 budgets, where it also got over 30 per cent.

He said that with the 260 Smart Green Schools already completed or nearing completion, the state would focus on the construction of Smart Secondary Schools and Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) Colleges across the state in 2026.

“There are some who might look at what we spend on education and cringe. But what we spend currently on education is largely insignificant, weighed against the future social cost of having a disproportionate population of out-of-school children,” he explained.

He said his administration equally budgeted the sum of N20 billion to clear longstanding gratuities inherited by his administration, noting that “Our workers should not wait years to receive benefits they have earned.”

N11 billion was budgeted to, among others, fund the second phase of the administration’s security surveillance system. Health is to get 10 per cent of the total budget.

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