Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Honourable Members, Members of the State Executive Council, Traditional Rulers, Civil Society Representatives, Members of the Press, Ladies and Gentlemen. I wish to express my deep appreciation to the Speaker and all Members of this Honourable House for the privilege to present the 2026 Budget Estimates.
Your cooperation, support and commitment to the Edo people made the success of the 2025 Budget possible. Without your partnership, we would not have achieved the progress we are celebrating today. On behalf of the State Executive Council, I thank you most sincerely.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, the 2025 Budget made real impact on the lives of our people. It recorded strong performance in both capital and recurrent expenditure.
Our Internally Generated Revenue in 2025 increased because we blocked leakages and strengthened collections. We delivered significant achievements across key sectors – security, roads, health care, agriculture, education, and job creation. Our experiences and achievements in this first one year drives this 2026 Budget. [[ On Security: We are determined that Edo will no longer be a safe place for criminals.
Insecurity was at its worst state when we assumed office. Cult killings, kidnapping, robbery, and cybercrime were very high.Over 300 cult-related killings were recorded in 2024 alone.
We passed a stronger anti-cultism law. Supplied 80 Hilux vans and 400 motorcycles to security agencies.
Recruited, trained and absorbed 2,500 Officers into the Edo State Security Corps. These efforts have drastically reduced insecurity across our state. On Healthcare, We are rebuilding a collapsed system and it is being restored from ground up.
We are currently constructing new Primary Health Centres across the State and providing diagnostic machines to these centres. We are building a new 150 bed Specialist Hospital in Edo Central.
On Infrastructure: Our administration is executing Practical Governance through massive intervention. We awarded 28 new road projects totalling 255 km. Construction of 2 new flyovers in Benin City, for the first time in the history of Edo State, at Ramat Park and Sapele Road by Adesuwa Junction. We are also constructing roads that connect communities.
On Agriculture, With the encouragement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, we expanded the agriculture budget from N 6,900,000,000.00 to N57,000,000,000.00.Over 400 hectares of farmland have been cultivated.
Harvesting has begun across multiple farm clusters. We are fighting food insecurity with action, and not long speeches. On Education, Our goal is quality education for every Edo child and we are Building the Future of Our Children at all levels.
We recruited 5,000 permanent teachers. We upgraded 63 schools to modern standards and more are on-going. We increased monthly subvention to Ambrose Alli University from N41,000,000.00 to N500,000,000.00.
Also, we increased the Edo State University, Iyamoh subvention from N25,000,000.00 to N250,000,000.00 monthly.
On Economic & Job creation, we are repositioning our state for greatness and Supporting Families and Businesses to thrive. Our administration inherited foreign debt, local debts owed to contractors and we are gradually reducing this burden.We have created over 10,000 direct and indirect jobs.
We launched N1,000,000,000.00 naira interest-free loan scheme for Market women and traders. On Governance & Institutions, we have Restored public Trust and our democracy has become more participatory.
At the beginning of our administration, we swore in 3 judges who were illegally sidelined by the previous administration. We are re-establishing the Customary Court in Edo to strengthen our judiciary.
We have strengthened traditional institutions and rebuilt relationships across government levels. Our governance is now more stable, cooperative, and people-focused.
2026 BUDGET Today, I stand before you to present the 2026 Budget of Hope and Growth. It is so called because it seeks to consolidate on the gains recorded during my first year in Office, expand our reach, and restore the hope of Edo people in governance. The 2026 Budget of Hope and Growth is designed to build on the foundation we laid in 2025. It is a budget that speaks to the needs of our people.
It focuses on security, infrastructure, agriculture, education, job creation and healthcare.[For the 2026 fiscal year, the Budget of Hope and Growth propose a total expenditure of N939,850,000,000.00 naira only.
Capital Expenditure: ₦637 billion, representing 68% Recurrent Expenditure: ₦302 billion, representing 32% Edo State will continue to prioritize capital projects such as roads, schools, hospitals, water, housing, and economic projects. Our people want real development they can see and feel.
SOURCES OF FUNDING The 2026 Budget will be funded through: Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of N160,000,000,000.00 FAAC allocations of N480,000,000,000.00Capital receipts and grants of N153,000,000,000.00 Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) of N146,000,000,000.00 Other revenue windows available to the state We will not impose unnecessary financial pressure on citizens. Instead, we will strengthen systems and block leakages.
SECTORAL ALLOCATIONS ECONOMIC SECTOR A total of N 614.2 billion is provided for.This includes expenditures on agriculture, roads, transport, urban development, and energy.
Priority areas: Rural and urban road construction Completion of the two flyovers Drainage works and urban renewal Expansion of farm estates and irrigation Support for markets, small businesses, and industrial clusters SOCIAL SECTOR N148.9 billion has been set aside to cater for education, health, youth development, women affairs, and social welfare. Highlights: More school renovations More teacher’s recruitment and training Expansion of primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities Investment in youth skills, sports, and entrepreneurship programs Support for women, children and vulnerable groups
ADMINISTRATION SECTOR: We are providing N157.7 billion for this sector.Highlights:This includes Civil Service Reforms Training and digital tools for all state employees Improved public finance systems and revenue collections Support to Ministries, Departments and Agencies Deployment of e-governance systems[ JUSTICE SECTOR We have set aside the sum of N19 billion.This includes support and strengthening of our courts for effective delivery of justice Legal reforms and access-to-justice programs REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT / LOCAL GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Our focus would include: Empowerment of our Local Government Councils for grassroots development Community roads development Rural electrification Water and sanitation Security outposts in border communities.
The 2026 Budget of Hope and Growth is built on our SHINE Agenda, which has five pillars, namely, Security, Health, Infrastructure, Natural Resources/Agriculture, and Education.The vision of the 2026 Budget of Hope and Growth is simple; it is to bring about prosperity and a united Edo State where every citizen has hope and every community feels the impact of governance.
I thank our father and leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, for his consistent encouragement and national reforms that has increased revenue flows to all states.
I’m also grateful to the Speaker and Members of this House for your teamwork and patriotism I thank our traditional rulers and all men and women of faith for their prayers and guidance I sincerely appreciate my political appointees and our civil servants for their support and dedication to work Mr. Speaker and Honourable members, it is now my pleasure and honour to present to you, the Edo State 2026 Appropriation Bill of N939,850,000,000,000.00 and details of the Budget proposals for your consideration and approval.
Thank you for your kind attention.God bless Edo State. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Thank you.