The governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Charles Soludo is prioritising infrastructure, economic transformation, and Human Capital Development, which remains the kernel of his administration, in the State’s 2025 budget.
The governor had earlier presented the 2025 fiscal year budget of N606.9 billion to the Anambra State House of Assembly, in Awka, the State Capital, with a 48 per cent increase from the 2024 budget of N410.1 billion.
Themed ‘Changing Gears 2.0’ with emphasis on acceleration and execution, 70 per cent of the 2025 budget is focused on Infrastructure, economic transformation, and Human Capital Development, which remains the kernel of Governor Soludo’s administration.
Recurrent expenditures account for N139.5 billion (YoY growth of 45.0 per cent), while capital expenditure is N467.5 billion (YoY growth of 48.9 per cent). The Capital Budget constitutes 77 per cent of the total budget size, while recurrent expenditure accounts for 23 per cent (the same ratios as for the 2024 budget). The budget deficit is estimated at N148.3 billion (24 per cent of the budget compared to 30 per cent in the 2024 budget).
In a statement signed by the governor’s chief press secretary, Christian Aburime, the administration may still not borrow to fund the deficit, and relative to 2024, several key sectors are seeing significant increases: the administrative sector by 45.5 per cent; the Economic sector by 40.1 per cent; the Judiciary sector by 51.3 per cent; the social sector by 82.7 per cent; Education by 101.4 per cent; Health by 57.1 per cent; and Infrastructure investment by 38.9 per cent.
The statement added that governor Soludo’s government will continue with the iconic projects initiated in 2024 while introducing new ones. These include: the development of three new cities: Awka 2.0, Onitsha 2.0, and a new Industrial City, while the Anambra Mixed-Use Industrial City Master Plan and the railway master plan/feasibility study have been completed.
According to governor Soludo, his administration will continue to enhance the ease of doing business in the State as articulated during the just concluded second edition of the Anambra Investment Summit (ANinvest 2.0), where 10 elite companies signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with Anambra State.
Soludo, in his plan for 2025, will continue to extend power access to underserved communities, and through a regulatory framework, encourage private sector investment in the Anambra Electricity Market, under the National Electricity Amendment Act of 2023, and expand the state’s water projects considerably.
According to Governor Soludo, human capital will continue, with education and health receiving the pre-eminent attention they deserve. This also includes the expansion of the state’s ‘One-Youth-Two-Skill’ programme to accommodate more youths for empowerment, and a ‘One Million Digital Tribe’ for digital skill training programme through the Solution Innovation District (SID).
On the budget funding, Governor Soludo explained that, the state will be propelled with its mantra of “Doing More with Less,” as it has projected an average monthly revenue of N5 billion, which will result in a total Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of N60 billion in 2025. This, he affirmed, will be increased through renewed efforts towards revenue generation capacity that will see the Anambra earning less than N10-15 billion monthly.
Meanwhile, the payment of the N70,000 minimum wage to Anambra State workers has been confirmed.
In a statement signed by the State Commissioner for Information, Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has started the payment of the new minimum wage of N70,000 to workers in line with the federal government directives, for improved standard of living.
This is against some media reports that have excluded the state from the list of few states already paying the new minimum wage. Governor Soludo administration is committed to the improved welfare of Anambra State workers, the statement added.
The press statement stated that the governor’s promise to pay the new minimum wage was made good since the month of October, when the payment was effected.
“Governor Soludo has always remained a labour-friendly governor as the workers in Anambra State have not only received the new minimum wage but also continue to receive salary alerts on or before the 25th of every month”. He has also adjusted pensions upward to give pensioners in Anambra State higher take-home, the statement concluded.
SOURCE: LEADERSHIP
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