BREAKING: Abia House Of Assembly Passes 2025 Budget

Abia State House of Assembly on Friday, passed the state’s ₦750,282,200,000 Appropriation Bill 2025 into law.

The Speaker, Emmanuel Emeruwa, said the House awaits quick signing of the law by the Governor, Alex Otti, to ensure implementation starts by January 2025.

He assured the House would continue to support programmes and policies of the government through legislative action for the benefit of Ndi Abia.

“I’m delighted to share that the Abia State Appropriation Bill 2025 has just been passed into law, following its third reading at the Abia State House of Assembly today, 27/12/2024. It’ll take effect on January 1st, 2025, once signed into law by Abia State Governor,” Emeruwa said.

Naija News reported that on December 10th, Tuesday, Governor Otti presented his administration’s 2025 budget of ₦750,282,200,000 titled ‘Budget of Sustained Momentum’.

Speaking at the House, Otti said the budget increased by 30% percent from the 2024 fiscal year after careful consideration of economic challenges such as inflation and exchange rate volatility, which have significantly impacted his government’s fiscal strategies.

“For the 2025 fiscal year, ₦611.7 billion, or 82% of the total budget, will be allocated to capital projects. The investment aims to drive the long-term socioeconomic transformation of the state, building on the progress made over the past 18 months. Additionally, ₦138.6 billion, or 18% of the budget, will be dedicated to recurrent expenditures, covering personnel costs, social benefits, overheads, and debt servicing,” he said.

The Labour Party Governor stressed that his administration did not borrow in the 2024 fiscal year and would borrow for the 2025 budget when it becomes very necessary.

“We anticipate a 213% increase in the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR) to ₦100.6 billion, a 96% rise in statutory allocations to ₦183.4 billion, a 55% increase in grants to ₦25.5 billion, and a 35% rise in VAT to ₦55.1 billion.

“The remaining ₦364.1 billion, or 51% of the budget, will be financed through domestic and multilateral channels. Importantly, as with last year, we will not borrow to finance recurrent expenditures. Borrowing will only occur when necessary and will be used for projects that can repay the loans.

“We are pleased to report that no funds were borrowed in the 2024 fiscal year, and we have taken steps to repay old debts, maintaining zero indebtedness to contractors,” Governor Otti stated.