A budget of ₦1,584,271,856,630.00 trillion has been signed into law for the 2026 fiscal year by the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Bassey Eno.
Of this amount, N416,594,925,850 billion is for recurrent expenditure, while N1,167,676,930,780 is for capital expenditure.
This exercise was performed during the enlarged State Executive Council meeting at the Exco Chambers, Government House. It was also attended by the leadership of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, led by the Speaker, Elder Udeme Otong.
Governor Eno commended the synergy between the House of Assembly and the Executive Arm of government. He said the collaboration accounted for the numerous achievements recorded in the state last year.
The governor urged members of the State Executive Council to be ready to make a total commitment and demonstrate passion in service delivery, warning that no excuses would be tolerated for non-performance.
“We all must rededicate ourselves to delivering our tasks promptly and decisively. This year is not a year for excuses. It is a year for action.
“Let us endeavour to break all barriers, go the extra mile to deliver. And when we deliver, we can sit back and celebrate. We can then be recognised.
“Let us not be in the company of people who will keep giving excuses and behave like Saul, who failed in his responsibility to govern the country and told Samuel it was the people. It was the people. The people will always be there, but the courage to do the right thing resides in leadership.
“The audacity to take decisions for the people resides in leadership. That is why God has placed us where we are in the first place. And so this year, let us understand that excuses will not be tolerated,” he said.
Earlier, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Elder Udeme Otong, lauded the governor for transparency and collaborative governance, insisting that the House of Assembly is appreciative of the results achieved by his government.
“You have implemented over 80per cent of the 2025 budget and the House of Assembly is ready to continue collaborating with the Executive, so other people will continue to be happy to have you as their Governor.”
Briefing newsmen after the budget-signing exercise, Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Linus Nkan, flanked by the Commissioner for Information, Dr. Aniekan Umanah, said, “Today at EXCO, we witnessed the signing of the 2026 budget, which was passed by the State House of Assembly late last year.
“The 2026 budget, which was presented to the House of Assembly on the 25th of November 2025, had a total budget size of N1.39tr.
“After subjecting the budget to scrutiny in the State House of Assembly, where all the MDAs appeared for defence, a whole lot of adjustments were made by the various MDAs, and that adjustment led to an increase in the budget size by the sum of N194 billion, and that increased the total budget size to 1,584,000,000 Naira for 2026 budget.
“The recurrent expenditure total is 416.5 billion, as against N354 billion originally proposed. Whereas the capital expenditure increased to N1,167 trillion from the original N1,035 trillion.
“We have today, a total budget size of 1,584,271,856,630 Naira to run with for the 2026 fiscal year, and hopefully it is going to stimulate and drive development of our economy.”
Earlier, the governor presented an award of Excellence to the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dr Anieti Udofia, as Commissioner of the Year, and lauded his passion and dedication, which accounted for the success of the recently concluded Christmas Unplugged 3:0.
He announced a cash prize of N20m to the Commissioner and another N100m to members of the planning committee of the event, and approved a one-week leave for the Commissioner. (Guardian)
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