27 Nov

BEING THE ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PASTOR UMO ENO, PhD, GOVERNOR, AKWA IBOM STATE ON THE OCCASION OF PRESENTATION OF THE 2025 BUDGET PROPOSALS TO THE AKWA IBOM STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY

PROTOCOL

  1. Let me begin by thanking God for all He has seen us achieve in the course of the last eighteenth months. We thank Him for giving us the spirit of unity, of peace, of collaborations and of selfless service to our people, To Him alone be the glory!
  2. Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members and other invited guests, we have come here today as the tradition demands and in fulfillment of the Constitutional requirement to present before you in this Hallowed Chambers, the Estimates of Expenditures for the year 2025.
  3. Before I proceed further, permit me to thank you, Mr. Speaker and indeed all the Honourable members of this House for the wonderful spirit of cooperation we have received from you, since our people gave us the mandate to work for them, a little over eighteen months ago.
  4. You have proven beyond any shadow of doubt, that we came to serve our people, and galvanize them to Arise, and collectively lift our State and our people to greater heights of growth, development, unity and love.
  5. The 2025 Budget Estimates christened “BUDGET OF CONSOLIDATION AND EXPANSION”, that we are presenting to you today, is specific and encompasses every detail and plans each of the Ministries and Departmental Agencies are expected to implement.
  6. For the first time in the history of budget preparations, we spent weeks with Members of the Enlarged EXCO and demanded of them a detailed, comprehensive and implementable estimates from their Ministries and Agencies. It went beyond the usual defense of their estimates before the Economics Development Ministry, without aligning such to specific areas of execution and implementation
  7. So I am happy to announce that what we are presenting to you here for your kind consideration, contains specific projects that align with our Arise agenda, and aimed at scaling up the tempo of development, and moving higher the levers of growth of our dear State as encapsulated in the Arise agenda.
  8. I want to thank the EXCO members, especially the Honorable Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Linus Nkan as well as that of Economic Development, Emem Bob, and the entire Budget Team led by the Director of Budget, Otu Asuquo for the painstaking work they have done here. That is the spirit we expect from all of us and it’s beautiful and encouraging.
  9. Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members of this House, in the last eighteen months, because we, the Executive Arm, and the 8th Assembly have seen ourselves as partners, we have worked hard to translate the vision of our Governance Blueprint, The Arise Agenda, across all the key five areas which are: Agricultural Revolution, Rural Development, Infrastructural Maintenance and Expansion, Security Maintenance and of course Educational Advancement.
  10. In just eighteen months, we have painstakingly followed through on our vision to ignite agricultural revolution and ensure food security for over people. To achieve the above, especially considering the current high cost of our staple food items, we declared every first and third Fridays of the month “Farm Free Days” so workers will return to the farm and plant the foods we eat. So far, this clarion call has been accepted by our people and we expect bountiful harvest next year.
  11. We have flagged off the 2024 First Planting Season where improved cassava cuttings, maize seeds, pumpkin seeds, fertilizers and other farm inputs were distributed to farmers. Work is ongoing at the Ibom Model Farm. This farm project is a deliberate policy of government to treat agriculture as a business worth investing in. We have improve on the Songhai Farming Model and embed farming businesses, tourism, and hospitality Eco system in Ibom Model Farm. This will reposition the State for tourism, conferences and training hub for improved farming practices.

The Ibom Model farm, along with the work we are doing to resuscitate the St. Gabriel’s Coconut Oil Factory/Plantation and Dakaadda Global Oil Palm have attracted the attention of Multilateral agencies and the Federal Government seeking to partner with the State on this project. We would continue to be space setter in the agricultural value chains in the country.

  1. Our commitment to rural development is total and comprehensive. Since our inauguration, we have worked hard to ensure that every local government has an ongoing project through our One Project Per Local Government Initiative.

Some of these projects include Model Primary Healthcare Centre, Model Primary Schools, roads and other impactful projects. Since the beginning of this month, we have been undertaking the commissioning of projects across local government areas. Time will fail me to repeat all those projects we have commissioned, but the fact remains that we are utilizing the resources of the State to get the most work done for our people, in line with our campaign promises.

  1. We remain passionately committed to the maintenance and expansion of our infrastructure. As we speak, we have initiated 57 strategic and economically viable FGPC approved Arise Road projects, 11 Arise Direct Labour Road Projects, 37 FGPC Road Project we inherited and are still funding, 51 old Direct Labour Project we equally inherited, bringing a total of roads project currently executed in all the local government areas to 156.
  2. Without going into details on these roads and other infrastructural projects, it bears repeating that we have initiated and completed the Atiku Abubakar Flood Control Tunnel, we have finished and commissioned the Udom Emmanuel Boulevard, formerly Airport Road, the Ekparakwa-Ntak Ibesit Road, in Oruk Anam Local Government Area, the Ikot Eyo- Edem Idim Okpot-Mbiekene-Nnung Obong-Ikot Ntung-East West Road, in Nsit Ubuim, the Ikot Obio Offong –Enen Nsit Road, the Mkpat Enin-Ikot Ubo Road-Ikot Ntot Road, the Urueffong-Utuku- Ibotong Road, in Urueffong Oruku Local Government Area, the Spring Road in Ikot Ekpene.
  3. We completed and commissioned Ndiya Street at the Akpan Andem Market within the first 100 days of our administration in line with my campaign promise and more contracts are being awarded as the dry season is approaching. Last week, I had a meeting with all the contractors working for the State Government and advised them to seize the opportunity presented by the dry season to complete the works they have been awarded. We have mobilized them adequately and we expect to see corresponding work done by them.
  4. Our State still enjoys the enviable status as one of the most peaceful and secure States in the Nation. Security is the first business of government and we take this obligation very seriously.

Apart from creating a stand-alone Ministry of Internal Security and Waterways, which we did few weeks after my inauguration, we have also created the Ibom Community Watch, which, working with the formal or institutionalized security agencies today provides men for crowd control and other strategic security tasks at the local or community levels.

  1. We intend to offer employment to Six Thousand Youths drawn from all the 31 Local Government Areas through Ibom Community Watch. We have also provided 14 gunboats to the Joint Patrol Team headed by the Nigerian Navy as well as other vehicles to aid the Rapid Response Squad of the State Police Command. We have launched the Security Trust Fund and I want to use this opportunity to thank our Service Commanders for working with us to make our dear State safe, secure, peaceful and a destination of choice.
  2. We remain committed to educational advancement as outlined in our Arise Agenda. Education still remains free from primary to secondary levels and we have kept our obligations in the payment of WAEC fees, subventions and other needs. Let me say here that feeding in boarding schools is the responsibility of parents. Government has set up an Investigative Panel to look into the recent incident involving Presbyterian Senior Science College, Idedip Ibiono Ibom. Going forward no principal should act as boarding master as well as being the principal. The government will not hesitate to shut down schools where such happens. Our model primary schools remain a marvel and in the new year, we will be commissioning a slew of these model primary schools. We want our pupils to receive instructions at the best environment possible so they may be better equipped mentally and academically for future educational pursuits. We have provided free uniforms, books and shoes for them as well
  3. We have increased bursary from 10-20 thousand Naira for undergraduates studying general courses and 10-30 thousand Naira for those studying professional courses such as law, medicine, engineering, agriculture etc, We are also paying 250 thousand Naira per undergraduate student living with disabilities and 300 thousand Naira for postgraduate students studying professional courses. This amount is drawn from the 100 Million Naira Educational Grant we instituted for students living with disabilities. We recently approved 1.1 billion Naira one–time wardrobe allowance for teachers.
  4. In the area of healthcare delivery service, we have commissioned model primary healthcare centers in Ikot Nkwo, Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government area, Odot, in Nsit Atai, Oboyo Ikot Ita, in Nsit Ibom. Works are over 90 percent completion with others in Urue Offong Oruko, Udung Uko, Ika and Etim Ekpo and the General Hospital in Ukanafun. We recently launched our Arise Care, the State Insurance Healthcare Scheme, and we will be enrolling nearly three thousand civil servants and some elders who need critical care free of charge. Ibom Specialist Hospital will be restructured as a stand-alone entity and the model of Ibom Air will be applied.

We hope to construct a Medical Village along the medical corridor- from Ibom Specialist Hospital to Ikot Ekpene. We will continue to conduct free medical outreaches for the most vulnerable. Recently, we received six ambulance trucks aimed at fast-tracking our healthcare delivery service and ensure real-time response to medical emergencies. We hope to increase the number to ten.

  1. We have kept our obligations to Ibom Air and we will continue to support the airline that has painted our State’s colors brightly in the nations aviation space. Since we came in, we have received two Airbus A200-300 Series and a little over a month ago, we received two brand new CRJ 900 Bombardier Aircraft, all paid in full by the State Government, bringing the total fleet in Ibom Air to nine. The recent disbursement of an interest-free loan of N60 billion to the company is a testament of our belief that public finance can be deployed for commercial ventures based on global best practices. I am reliable informed that the company has return to profitability this year
  2. We are working to commission the Maintenance, Repairs and Overhaul (MRO) facility soon, while operations will commence at the International Terminal at the Victor Attah International Airport soon. We thank the Honourable Minster of Aviation, Barr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, and heads of other regulatory agencies for working with us to make the expected partial commencement of operations possible.
  3. That informed our decision to flag off the ground- breaking for the Aviation Village we performed last week. That facility will provide accommodation and other recreationary facilities for workers who will help drive our vision as the aviation hub of the Gulf of Guinea and the associated ecosystem
  4. In the Humanitarian or Poverty Alleviation and Social Investment Schemes, we have done extensive interventions here. We are committed to building 400 humanitarian homes before the end of our first term. To date, 42 of those home have already been completed and handed over to the beneficiaries, 95 are ready to be given out while work is ongoing on the remaining.
  5. We continue to pay 50 thousand Naira monthly to our 600 selected elders across the 31 LGA under our Arise Initiative for the elderly and this has helped them take care of their immediate needs.
  6. Through the Bulk Purchase Agency, we have been providing free food vouchers to the most vulnerable and we followed through on this, by directly distributing the food items to the people to ensure strict adherence to transparency.

Two forty-foot distribution trucks were purchased for this purpose. This, however, is purely an intervention; the practical solution remains the return to farming by our people, which thankfully, they have embraced.

  1. To date, we have paid over 37 billion Naira out of 85.2 billion we met when we came in, as gratuities to retired civil servants, local government and teachers in the State. We are committed to liquidating all the backlog of gratuities in line with our campaign promises. We have also kept most of our obligations and agreements with the Organized Labour, leading to the seamless and smooth labour-government relations we have enjoyed since we came in. We will pay the minimum wage after the current verification exercise is completed. In the meantime we will pay the 13th month’s salary popularly known as ‘Eno-mber’. The Arise Employment Portal has been launched and jobs for our teeming youths will be harvested from that portal and I am encouraged by what I have heard so far. We would set up the State Labour Committee to liaise with our contractors and other entities operating from our State, to utilize the portal to recruit our people for various job opportunities they may offer.
  2. We remain dedicated to growing Small and Medium Scale Enterprises as the engine of economic growth. The Bank of Industry (BoI) has established its branch here for the first time and we are providing a deposit of 2 billion Naira to ensure our traders, small and medium-scale entrepreneurs borrow funds at single digits
  • The 2 billion Naira loan earlier granted to traders who have stalls in the market is now a grant.

•We further provided 200 Million Naira each to Arewa, Yoruba, Igbo and Niger Delta traders who have stalls in the market as well making a total of 800 Million Naira.

  • We have trained over 1,200 budding entrepreneurs (Four Hundred Female Youths who would be given N500 Naira each plus 250 training fees through the Entrepreneurial Accelerator Programmer (EAP) run by Ibom Leadership and Entrepreneurial Development Centre (Ibom-LED). The process of the payment of the first set of beneficiaries of the Arise Business Support Schemes to our youths are ongoing and they will be paid soon.
  • Six thousand youths are to be engaged by the Ibom Community Watch and a further one thousand youths are to be trained at the Dakkada Skills Acquisition Centre (DASAC). Two hundred of the youths are currently in training at the centre with 20 thousand Naira training fees paid to each of the trainees.
  1. We are committed to increasing our internally generating revenue through the creative application of our moribund assets. Recently, we performed the ground- breaking ceremony for the construction of an 18-Storey Ibom Towers which upon completion, will signal our arrival in the bullish Lagos real estate market. We will continue to recover our moribund assets and put them to commercial use.

We are also concluding plans to construct a Four -Star Ibom Hotels in Abuja- all these will in the long run earn us solid returns on investment. As the world is looking beyond oil, we too, must make plans to think ahead and survive without oil

30.​We have undertaken a detailed technical audit of operations of Ibom Plant and are presently reviewing the recommendations of the report for implementation. There would be a major restructuring of the organization and operations of the plant. We have identified some operational risks including gas supply security, equipment availability and due inspections for which a program is being developed. There are challenges that we are detailing on a phased basis. The financials will be subject of some subsequent future engagement.

31.​We have conducted a comprehensive feasibility study on Ibom Deep Seaport where onside Geo technical and Geo physical environmental scoping, Port design options etc has been undertaken. With the completion of the report, the Akwa Ibom State Government as project sponsor will proceed to the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) state which is crucial step in the planning of complex engineering projects. We have also open up access road to the facility.

  1. Tourism is a big focal point in the Arise Agenda, and come December, we will be opening a section of our audacious all-inclusive mega tourism project Arise Park. The Park sits on a former gulley-hesion-ravaged ravine off Etim Umana and Dominic Utuk Avenues respectively, and today, it is a marvel to behold and a testament to vision and creativity. We will be opening the children’s play ground and the golf course before the end of the year.

The ‘Christmas Unplugged’ will commence next week and we will be hosting the world to a month-long happy hours of cultural renaissance and reawakening. It promises to be a wonderful time for our people to relax and engage ourselves in an atmosphere of love and togetherness. Godswill Obot Akpabio remains the choice for major football events organized by CAF and FIFA respectively and we remain poised to keep maintaining the facilities at the stadium.

We have done so much in the last eighteen months that time will fail me if we were to detail all of them here. The Chief Press Secretary, working with the SSA Research and Documentation, and other media team members, will produce a Coffee Table Special Publication which will outline and document in full details, all that we have achieved across sectors and distribute them everywhere in the State, churches, Supermarkets, hospitals, Hotels and as inserts in local newspapers. This will be done on a bi-monthly basis, so we may keep updating our people on how the resources of the State are being utilized.

THE POLICY THRUST AND OBJECTIVES OF THE AKS 2025 BUDGET POLICY THRUST

  1. The Policy Thrust of the 2025 Budget will be anchored on the ARISE Agenda of the present Administration.
  2. THE POLICY OBJECTIVES OF THE 2025 BUDGET

The Policy Objectives of the 2025 Budget include:
a. Achievement of food security through investing heavily in the agricultural revolution.

b. Rural development through robust investments in modern living facilities such as all seasonal roads, rural electrification, primary healthcare facilities, schools, markets, recreational facilities and so on, within rural communities to ultimately improve the quality of life for those in the rural areas and help stem rural-urban migration.

c. Consolidation on, maintenance and advancement of world-class infrastructure that the State has come to be known for nationally; and complete those that were started by previous administration, which time did not permit to be completed and commissioned.

d. ​Ensuring that public schools in the State are equipped and staffed by teachers who are passionate and dedicated.

e. ​Ensuring that citizens continue to live in peace and that the sanctity of human life would be protected through security management.

f. ​Prioritization of the welfare of civil servants and encourage a spirit of entrepreneurship in line with the ARISE Agenda.

g. ​Creating jobs for citizens and enlarge the path for economic prosperity.
h. ​Expanding and improving infrastructure and services in health-care delivery at primary and secondary levels to safeguard the state against public health emergencies.

i. ​Promoting accountability and transparency by ensuring compliance with Fiscal Responsibility and Public Procurement Laws.

j. Initiating a robust sports development policy for the State and creating a funded Youth Development and Empowerment Programme to keep them actively engaged over a sustained time frame.

k. ​Assisting women in business start-ups and entrepreneurial ventures through mentorship initiatives with already established entrepreneurs.

  1. THE 2025 BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES

To achieve the foregoing objectives, the following Strategies will be adopted:

  1. Improve the effectiveness of our budget performance by ensuring fiscal discipline through implementing of only programs that were captured in the Budget while ensuring value for money, greater transparency and accountability.
  2. Provision of appropriate incentives to attract private investment in the agricultural sector such as farming inputs supplies and tractor hiring.
  3. Create jobs by strengthening micro and small-scale enterprise (MSE) and supporting them through working capital, grant and loan.
  4. Investment in super infrastructure such as Ibom Towers, Lagos and completion of ongoing infrastructural investment in roads, sports, tourism, housing, aviation, etc.
  5. Amelioration of poverty and provide humanitarian services to extend maximum coverage to the poor and other vulnerable groups which includes youth, women, elderly in our society through pro-poor spending.
  6. Institutionalize quarterly Performance Tracking and Reporting using the MDAs’ Scorecard and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
  7. Achieve at least 20% increase in IGR by eliminating evasion in payment, wastages and leakages in collection and expenditure and developing tourism potential.
  8. To promote environmental safety to mitigate the adverse effect of climate change and maintain a healthy environment.
  9. Connect our rural communities, renew our urban centers with network of roads and recreational opportunities for the benefit of Akwa Ibom citizens.
  10. Partners with the private sector and foreign investors to invest in the key sectors of the state economy.
  11. REVIEW OF THE PERFORMANCE OF 2024 BUDGET

Mr. Speaker, a total of ₦849.970 billion was approved for 2024 Fiscal Year. However, the proposed revised estimates of N923.462 currently before the House of Assembly for approval, has a total recurrent expenditure of ₦350.142 billion and the capital provision of ₦573.319 billion. The breakdown is as follows:

i) Recurrent Expenditure – ₦350.142
ii) Capital Expenditure – ₦573.319
TOTAL – ₦923.462

  1. As at October, 2024, the total recurrent revenue collected was N801.079 billion representing 168.6% of the pro-rated approved provision for the period (January – October).

The sum of N100.522 billion was realized from other capital Receipts excluding recurrent surplus. This represents 43.1% of the pro-rated approved provision for the period.

As at October, a total of N328.003 billion was spent on Capital programmes which represent 80% of the pro-rated provision for the period.

38 . HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2025 BUDGET

The 2025 Budget, which is christened “BUDGET OF CONSOLIDATION AND EXPANSION, is predicated on an oil benchmark of $75.00 per barrel at a production rate of 2.12 million barrels per day with an estimated exchange rate of ₦1,400 /US$, in line with the National Budget benchmark projections.

The National GDP has been projected at 3.68% growth rate with National inflation rate of 32.8%.

  1. THE 2025 BUDGET SIZE

Government has proposed a total budgetary outlay of N955.000 billion for the 2025 Financial Year as against the proposed revised provision of N923.462 of 2024 representing an increase of 3% from the 2024 revised budget.

This is made up of:
Recurrent Expenditure – N300.000 billion
Capital Expenditure – N655.000 billion
Total – ₦955.000 billion

  1. STATE GOVERNMENT REVENUE ESTIMATES

The total projected Recurrent Revenue for 2025 is estimated at ₦830.000 billion as against the proposed revised provision of ₦803.703 billion representing 3% increase in revenue projection for the year 2025.

The breakdown is as follows:

Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) – ₦80.000 billion
Statutory Revenue – ₦20.000 billion
Derivation Revenue – ₦135.000 billion
13% Derivative Revenue Arrears – ₦60.000 billion
Exchange Gain, Augmentation and others – ₦455.000 billion
Excess Crude – ₦5.000 billion
Value Added Tax (VAT) ​​​ ​ – ₦70.000 billion
Ecological Fund ​​​​​ ​​​ – N5.000 billion
Total – ₦830.000 billion

  1. RECURRENT EXPENDITURE

For the 2025 Fiscal Year, Recurrent Expenditure which is proposed at ₦300.000 billion is made up of:

i.) Personnel Cost – ​ ₦ 115.695 billion
ii.) Overhead Cost – ​ ₦ 184.305 billion

Total Recurrent Expenditure – ₦300.000 billion

  1. CAPITAL EXPENDITURE

The total Capital Receipts and Expenditure for the year 2025 is estimated at N655.000 billion as against the proposed revised provision of N573.319 billion for 2024. A total projected Capital Receipts shows that N530.000billion will be transferred from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, while the balance of N125.000 billion is to be realized as follows:

i.) Opening Balance from 2024 account ​ – ₦100.000 billion
ii.) External Bank Loan – ₦10.000 billion
iii.) Grants – ₦11.000 billion
iv.) Reimbursement from Federal Govt. on Roads – ₦1.000 billion
v.) Other exceptional Income – ₦1.000 billion
ix.) Stabilization Account – ₦2.000 billion
Total ​ – ₦125.000 billion

  1. SECTORAL ALLOCATION

The sectoral allocation of the total budget outlay of N955.000 billion for the year 2025 is presented as follows:

S/NO.

MINISTRY/DEPARTMENT/
AGENCY

TOTAL BUDGET

% OF TOTAL PROPOSED BUDGET
1
Administration Sector

215.863
22.6
2
Economic Sector

564.417
59.1
3
Law and Justice Sector

21.393
2.2
4
Regional Sector

1.002
0.1
5
Social Sector

152.325
16.0
Total

955.000
100.0

  1. The Honourable Commissioner for Finance, will as usual provide additional details on the sectoral allocations.

CONCLUSION

  1. Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members, thank you for your kind attention. Let me pause and celebrate God’s goodness and mercies to us as a people and as a State. It is by His mercies that we have achieved all that we have enumerated despite our lean resources and challenging macroeconomic environment. It is by His mercies that we have stepped into this era of our Golden Era. It is by His mercies that this ‘BUDGET OF CONSOLIDATION AND EXPANSION” will be judiciously implemented to achieve the lofty ideals of our forebears.
  2. I, therefore appeal for your approval on my submissions and your support for its implementation. We promise a faithful implementation of this “Budget of Consolidation and Expansion” for the general good of our people. Our resolve to alleviate poverty and create wealth, generate employment, bring about agricultural revolution and uplift the overall welfare of our people remains unflinching and an abiding article of engagements and faith

I beseech you therefore, to expeditiously consider and approve the 2025 Budget proposals, as the relevant details will be provided by the Hon. Commissioner for Finance.

Thank you for your attention. God bless Akwa Ibom State, God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria and God bless us all.

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