Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah has signed into law the N971 billion appropriation bill for the 2025 fiscal year.
The event took place at the Government House with the members of the State House of Assembly led by the Speaker, Mr Uchenna Ugwu, and some top government functionaries in attendance.
The budget comprises N837.9 billion Capital Expenditure, representing 86 per cent of the budget, and a Recurrent Expenditure component of N133 billion, representing 14 per cent of the budget.
The education sector got N320.6 billion representing 33 per cent and largest share of the total budget for the second consecutive year.
Signing the budget, Mbah thanked the lawmakers for the speedy passage of the budget, describing it as a “massive Christmas gift” to the people of the state.
“What we are witnessing here today is democracy in action. We christened our budget, “Budget of Exponential Growth and Inclusive Prosperity”, because it is at the heart of everything we do in the state.
“If you look at the development model adopted, it is one that takes into account the development challenges we have across our state and we have the responsibility to make sure that nobody or section of the state is left out.
“In terms of growth, we recognised very early that incremental growth model will not cut it for us. The rest of the world will not wait for us and development is not something that you wish into existence. You must be very intentional about it.
“So, our growth strategy is the one that adopts an exponential growth model,” Mbah said.
He assured the people of the state, that by January 1, 2025, they would march towards Enugu’s greatness and development.
In his remark, the speaker, Mr Ugwu, attributed the sustenance and early passage of the budget to the involvement of the parliament in the budget preparation.
“We were part of the process that produced those figures in the first place because we were carried along.
“We did not have to change anything because behind closed-doors, we had done the job already before the budget was presented.
“So, there is no point changing anything. The assurance to Enugu people is that we shall continue to have it good,” he stated.
He commended Mbah for the high performance of the 2024 budget, and pledged that that the house would effectively exercise its oversight powers in its implementation. (NAN)
