Abia  Unveils  Citizens  Budget, Earmarks N185bn for Capital Expenditure on Education, Health

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

Four months after its 2024 fiscal policy became operational, the Abia State Government has come up with the “citizens’ version” of the approved budget to enable the citizenry understand the details of the budget.

The implementation of the approved budget outlay of N567.24 billion commenced at the outset of the first quarter of 2024 but it appeared that citizens were in the dark as to what the figures repesented.

At the presentation of the ‘Citizens’ budget’ held at the Aguiyi Ironsi Conference Centre in Umuahia, the state Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mr. Kingsley Anosike, gave a detailed breakdown of the 2024 budget.

However, he did not hide the fact that the budget has a deficit of N319 billion which would be sourced through loans.

Anosike said the government would spend N185 billion to improve physical infrastructure in order to transform social services sector with capital expenditure on education put at N100 billion while N85 billion would be spent on capital projects in healthcare services.

The commissioner said that the huge investment in both the education and health sector was a positive deviation from the past, adding that Abia State would be the better for it.

He told the participants that 20 percent of the 2024 budget would be spent on education with over 120 primary and secondary schools billed to be remodelled and retrofitted in order to usher in an efficient public school system.

The commissioner explained that the investment in the health sector would bring healthcare services within the reach of Abia residents both in the cities and in the rural areas, adding that N45 billion would be spent on creating “health villages.”

This entails renovating and equipping existing primary healthcare centres and building additional ones to bring them at a walking distance closeness to the citizens.

Anosike stated that Abia State was already reaping the benefits of spending more in the social sector, noting that the state was winning the confidence of the international development partners by exceeding the 16 percent benchmark budget allocation to education.

He said that the state has received N6 billion in foreign donations within the first quarter of 2024, indicating that “international donors believe that we’re doing well”. With this trend in Abia State, he noted it would likely receive more than the projected N16 billion in foreign donations by year end.

To the cheering of participants, the budget and planning commissioner announced that “Abia is the only state in Nigeria” that allocated 84 percent of its 2024 budget to capital expenditure, with Anambra State coming second with about 76 percent.

He said that by allocating the lion’s share to capital projects, the government was committed to the implementation of massive infrastructural projects, including total transformation of Umuahia, Aba and Ohafia to become ‘new cities’.

The event with the theme: ‘A new beginning’, was organised by the Abia State Government in collaboration with the Open Government Partnership(OGP), brought together representatives of the various segments of the citizenry and availed them details of the budget.

The participants included traditional rulers, religious leaders, community leaders, civil society organisations, women and youth groups, among others.

Earlier, the state Director of Budget, Mr. Eme Orji Kalu, had explained that the citizens’ budget has become necessary as the people that the fiscal policy was meant for needed to understand how it would impact their lives.