Otti Presents N750.3bn Budget Proposal for 2025 Fiscal Year

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has presented a budget proposal of N750, 282, 200, 000.00

for the 2025 fiscal year aimed at “sustaining the momentum” of his ongoing transformation agenda.

The budget outlay represents a 30 percent increase over the 2024 budget of N523 billion, which according to the Governor has recorded “a decent progress” in implementation.

Presenting the budget proposal Tuesday before the State House of Assembly, Otti said that the increment in the 2025 budget “indicates the scope of our progressive aspirations”.

“We have taken into account, major economic headwinds such as inflation and exchange rate instability – two complex subjects that have dealt very harsh blows to our fiscal plans and proposals,” he said.

Giving a breakdown of the budget outlay, Otti said that N611.7 billion, representing 82 percent of the entire budget outlay, “will be channeled into capital projects to continue to drive the long-term socioeconomic transformation of the state”.

He said that N138.6 billion representing 18% of the total package shall be channeled into recurrent expenditures to cover personnel cost, social benefits, overhead costs and debt servicing.

Compared to the 2024, the capital expenditure for 2025 fiscal year witnessed an increase of 29 percent while the recurrent expenditure, though smaller in size, was raised by about 34 percent.

Reviewing the outgoing fiscal year, the Abia Governor stated that “we have not achieved 100 percent of our target in the 2024 fiscal year because of a combination of factors, mostly external”.

Aside the external factors, Otti also identified some “fundamental internal factors that may have limited our drive to reach 100 percent of our targets”.

However, he expressed his happiness that “we achieved very impressive outcomes on all our key governance priorities”, adding that his administration has not borrowed money from any creditor while repaying inherited debts.

Otti said: “the elements of the 2025  budget are anchored on a set of slightly optimistic fundamentals” to finance the budget.

“We project an increase in the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR) collection by 213% to N100.6 billion, a 96% rise in statutory allocation to N183.4 billion, 55% increase in grants to N25.5 billion and 35% rise in VAT to N55.1 billion.

“We shall finance the balance of N364.1 billion, representing about 51% of the total envelope through borrowing from domestic and multilateral channels.”

The governor said that steps have already been taken to address the drawbacks of the outgoing fiscal year “as we hope to move faster and stronger on all fronts in the coming year”.

“At any rate, we remain optimistic that the economic environment will be more stable in the new year even as we work hard to control the variables that are within our powers,” he said.

“We are reasonably on track to meet the expectations of the people on several development metrics especially with the restoration and expansion of public infrastructure, prompt and regular payment of salaries and pensions,” he said.

Otti further stated that his administration posted impressive record in security of lives and property, improvement of “environmental status of our major urban centres and responsiveness to matters of public interest”.

He praised his administration for prudent, management of state resources with tremendous outcomes in infrastructural development in the last 18 months.

“I am glad to say that we are not just running with a very efficient governance template, we have also shown great discipline in the management of resources, spending only on projects with high social and economic returns”.

“The gains of our people-first agenda are expressed in the fact that over the last 12 months, Abia rose to become one of the top 3 destinations for foreign investments in the country, just behind Lagos and Abuja,” Otti said.

In his response, the Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Emmanuel Emeruwa, commended the governor for driving the wheel of progress efficiently and at a speed never witnessed before in the state.

He assured Otti that the state legislature would continue to provide the needed support to enable him fulfil his social contract with the people of Abia. He said that the 2025 budget proposal would be given accelerated consideration and approval.