On Tuesday this week, Governor Chukwuma Soludo presented his 2026 budget proposal to the Anambra State House of Assembly, marking a bold escalation of his administration’s development agenda. Titled “Changing Gears three point zero: Solution Continues”, the seven hundred and fifty-seven point eight-eight billion naira appropriation signals both ambition and continuity in Soludo’s second term.
The proposed budget reflects a twenty-four point one per cent increase over the 2025 budget of six hundred and six point nine-nine billion naira. Quite strikingly, seventy-nine per cent of the expenditure is allocated to capital projects, that is, five hundred and ninety-five point three billion naira, while twenty-one per cent goes to recurrent spending, that is one hundred and sixty-two point six billion naira.
On the surface, this prioritization is well-intentioned as Professor Soludo is clearly signalling that infrastructure, development, and long-lasting transformative projects matter more than day-to-day operational costs. Indeed, he frames 2026 as a year not of just consumption, but of “acceleration” and pushing hard on previously laid foundations.
Yet, the budget comes with a deficit of two hundred and twenty-five point seven billion naira, representing roughly thirty per cent of total expenditure. Remarkably, Governor Soludo has never borrowed, despite legislative approval to. Hence, he suggests this deficit will be met through hybrid financing options: such as augmented internally generated revenue, privatization proceeds and public-private partnerships.
The governor’s budget reveals clear priorities in security, infrastructure, economic transformation, and human capital development, which are the pillars he has repeatedly emphasized.
On infrastructure, the governor proposes to deepen his transport revolution. He plans to dualize strategic state and federal roads, complete bridges and flyovers, expand mass transit, including buses, jetties and boats as well as explore a rail master-plan via PPP. His crowning industrial ambition is the development of three “new cities”, the Awka two point zero, Greater Niger and an Aerotropolis and New Industrial-Commercial City. The construction of Anambra Mixed-Use Industrial City is slated to begin in 2026, a symbolic step into large-scale industrial transformation.
Furthermore, with a forty-seven per cent year-on-year increase in the education allocation, Soludo is doubling down on his promise to deliver “free and qualitative education”. He proposes building thirty new public primary schools in communities that lack them, upgrading current schools and establishing two specialist tertiary institutions. These measures could significantly widen access and elevate the quality of education across Anambra.
Health receives a thirteen per cent boost, while broader social sector spending rises by over thirty-one per cent. The administration also promises to finalize a nursing college and a specialist teaching hospital, marking a long-term commitment to healthcare systems.
In 2026, the Governor will continue to champion his One Youth, Two Skills programme and the Solution Innovation District, a tech-hub meant to rival “Silicon Valley” in ambition. By training tens of thousands of young people in digital skills, he aims to position Anambra as a talent hub and spur entrepreneurship.
No doubt, Soludo’s 2026 budget is undeniably bold and forward-leaning. By dedicating nearly eighty per cent to capital works, he is clearly betting on laying transformative infrastructure and human-capital foundations. The emphasis on education, health, youth empowerment, and smart city development aligns with modern governance priorities.
For citizens and stakeholders, the takeaway is that this budget is not merely a spending plan, it is a mandate. Soludo is clearly telling Ndi Anambra that the next phase of his administration is about consolidation and acceleration and for that mandate to translate into long-term transformation, cooperation and support will be absolutely essential from the legislature, the executive and the citizens. We must live up to our civic responsibilities.
DR EMEKA ARINZE
