By Ese Obote-Ogwu
THE Commissioner for Economic Planning, Mr Sonny Ekedayen, has revealed that the state’s 2026 budget, estimated around 1.6 trillion, will be funded organically thereby guaranteeing the state’s fiscal stability and promoting sustainable economic expansion, which will have a positive impact in the state and foster a conducive environment for businesses to thrive.
Mr Ekedayen disclosed this information during an interactive session with various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) as part of the consultants leading to the preparations for the 2026 budget.
The Commissioner outlined the focus of the 2026 budget to include that efforts would be made at improving electricity supply across the state by taking advantage of the liberalised energy sector.
He said that the new electricity act of the federal government gave the state the leeway to open the electricity market to investors.
The Commissioner disclosed that in 2026 government will pay more attention to social protection issues in order to reach the poorest of the poor and the vulnerable in the society through structured programmes that would ensure these categories of Deltan are touched positively.
Other priorities he listed included the completion of existing projects, initiating new ones in critical areas, and prioritizing the electorate’s needs, while also enhancing transparency and accountability in public expenditure, and fostering a conducive environment for investors and development partners.
The expected increase in budget size from 979 billion naira budget in 2025 to a budget of 1.6 trillion naira in 2026 is attributed to increased revenue from FAAC due to removal of oil subsidy and higher PMS prices.
Other factors are debt repayment and fiscal discipline, which have enabled the state to repay over 266 billion naira in inherited debt, freeing up more funds for development projects.
Speaking on the mid-year performance of the 2025 budget, the Commissioner noted that the aggregate budget size is 979.2 billion, comprising 630.5 billion for capital expenditures and 348.8 billion for recurrent expenses.
Meanwhile, the half-year budget performance report reveals that actual revenue receipts stood at 787.3 billion from the different revenue sources including FAAC and IGR among others. He remarked that this is a notable performance rate of 160percent.
The commissioner said that IGR collection hit a record high of 104.8 billion naira in the first half of the year. He attributed this remarkable achievement to several factors, including the judicious use of taxpayer funds which has improved tax payers confidence.
Other factors include teamwork, stakeholder engagements, and technical support from reputable firms. The effective utilization of taxpayer money has boosted public confidence, leading to increased tax compliance, he said.
The Economic Planning commissioner stated that the impressive performance of the internally generated revenue (IGR) is a testament to the state’s commitment to transparency and accountability
On the expenditure side, Mr Ekedayen noted that the capital budget of 630.5 billion, has actual expenditures totalling 301.5 billion, resulting in a notable performance rate of 86.4percent. Furthermore, the recurrent budget has been allocated 348.8 billion, with actual expenditures amounting to 200.5 billion, achieving an impressive performance rate of 86.4percent.
Earlier, the Director of Budget, Mr. Daniel Okpako stated that the necessary parameters and indices for a robust and good budget have been established. To address any unclear points, he encouraged staff from different MDAs to visit the budget department.
The Head of Efficiency Unit in the ministry, MrEmekaOkonkwo also made a power point presentation showing the guidelines for the preparation of the 2026 budget. This is to enable seamless preparation of the budget by the MDAs.
In the course of the interaction, a lot of feedback was harvested which will guide the Permanent Secretaries and Directors who were at the meeting to prepare a people centered budget.
