Governor of Enugu state, Dr. Peter has presented N1.62 trillion budget of Renewed momentum for the 2026 fiscal year for sustainability of achievements recorded in the past years.
Presenting the 2026 budget proposal,, Tuesday , 2 December,2025, Governor Mbah announced a proposed estimate of N1,617,397,465,000 ,to the Enugu State House of Assembly, describing it as a transformational budget designed to consolidate the administration’s agenda of disruptive innovation, massive infrastructure buildout, and the transition of Enugu into a premier investment destination.
The budget proposal represents a 66.5 per cent increase over the 2025 budget, signalling the government’s intention to deepen capital-intensive development. Governor Mbah said .
Gov Mbah
Governor Mbah disclosed that the budget will be funded through a combination of N870 billion Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), N387 billion from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), and N329 billion from capital receipts, including development financing and partnerships. He said N149 billion will be for increased workforce and manpower. A sum of N321 billion is for Recurrent expenditure and Capital expenditure is N1.3 trillion being 80%of the total budget of N1,617,397,465.
The Governor explained that the budget maintains a strategic increase toward growth-stimulating expenditure, setting aside 20 per cent for recurrent spending and dedicating 80 per cent to capital projects across key sectors. The economic sector has N868billion proposed for it. Education has over 30% of the total budget
He said the budget was aimed at accelerating infrastructure delivery, social services and economic expansion across the state.
The Governor disclosed that his administration has procured additional three aircrafts for Enugu Air and has proposed to purchase 14 more aircraft’s to make it 20 Enugu aircraft s in
According to him, the spending plan will prioritise infrastructure renewal, education, healthcare, water supply, technology, job creation, and security—areas he said are essential to achieving the administration’s long-term development blueprint.
Hon Asogwa( back)
The details of proposal sector by sector are as follows, 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 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 said .
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.
Speaker RT. Hon. Uche Ugwu
On 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.
The administration plans to build five more transport terminals in Emene, Udi, Awgu, Four-Corners (Ozalla) and Obollo-Afor. It equally set aside 15 per cent of the budget for providing 15,000 mass housing units, while ramping up infrastructural development at the New Enugu City.
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.
*2025 Budget Performance*
On the 2025 budget performance, Governor Mbah said the administration had so far spent about N806 billion.
“This means that we utilized 97.5 per cent of all the money that came into the state and achieved 83 per cent of the total budget implementation as against the revised budget of N871 billion,” he said.
On revenues performance, the governor said “The money coming into Enugu State has grown in ways we have never seen before.”
“Our internally generated revenue is set to exceed ₦400 billion by the end of the year. It is not yet where we ultimately want to be, but it is already the highest IGR in the history of Enugu State – a 221.6% increase over 2024,” he said.
He commended President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies, saying it had revved up the FAAC allocations to Enugu State.
“Our FAAC inflow did not just meet expectations – it exceeded them by more than half. We projected about ₦150 billion but we received ₦230 billion – over 50 per cent above projection.
“This is not accidental. It reflects the impact of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s bold economic reforms.
“The removal of fuel subsidies, unification of foreign exchange rate and other fiscal measures have strengthened key macro indicators – inflation has declined and continues to trend downwardly, interest rates have eased, and the exchange rate has stabilised. And our foreign reserve has continued to be strengthened, and recently hit the $46 billion mark,” he said.
The presentation marks a significant milestone in the state’s fiscal planning cycle as the Assembly prepares to scrutinise the proposal in the coming days
Responding, the Speaker of the Enugu state House of Assembly,RT.Hon. Uche Ugwu , commended Governor Mbah for his good works in the state. He promised accelerated passage of the appropriated bill…
Chairman Nsukka Local Government Area, Hon. Jude Asogwa
In their reactions respectively, , the state Acting chairman of All Progressive Congress( APC) Dr Ben Nwonye lauded Governor Mbah’s bold step making the huge budget proposal of N1.62 trillion , which he said is the first of its kind in Enugu. He expressed the confidence that the appropriation bill will be realised and put to use judiciously.
Nwoye commended Mbah for investing not only on infrastructure but also on human capital development.
“About 33.2 per cent is budgeted in education and when we talk about the biggest asset being the brain,
hands and legs, we’re talking about changing the entire landscape
of Enugu.
“The governor promises of making this place a number one in terms of tourism and in order to facilitate that, he is bringing in more aircraft. For the first time you’re going to be having from three aircraft to 20 aircraft,” Nwoye said.
The acting chairman added that Mbah was also transforming the health sector by building and revitalisatising existing ones by putting ingenuity of Igboman into leadership as well as strengthening the security of the state by launching drones on Monday.
“You can’t have all these without security. So we are happy. Everyone is happy, the women, youth Judiciary and even the Legislature are happy because we have seen a new Enugu in the next one year,” he said.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for increasing state allocation, saying “Without the amount of money they are receiving now, all these will not be possible”.
On his part, the Chairman, Nsukka Council Area of Enugu State, Jude Asogwa, commended Governor Mbah’s bold stepp stressing that the budget was realisable.
“If you listen to His Excellency, when he was presenting the budget, it’s very practical and realisable. He will tell you what he intends to do and how he intends to do it. Asogwa explthat Mbah flagged-off 181 roads in 2025 and pledged to launch 1,200 road in 2026.
“He presented last budget without provision for borrowing and this year budget again, he presented 1.62 trillion and there’s no provision for borrowing as you could see that he itemised all the sources where the
funds will be coming from, ” he said.
