Abia State Government has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that the state Budget reflects the priorities and aspirations of its citizens rather than the interests of a privileged few.
The Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr Kingsley Anosike stated this, during the 2026 Abia State Budget Citizens’ Engagement Forum held at the Aguiyi Ironsi Conference Center,Umuahia.
Mr Anosike emphasized that the Budget Engagement Forum was designed to give residents a voice in shaping how government resources are allocated and spent as well as ensure that government priorities align with the actual needs of the people.
“The budget is meant to be a citizens’ budget, it is supposed to be a budget that truly reflects the needs and aspirations of the people, not the preferences of the elites or the State’s leadership, but the genuine priorities of the citizens.
“We build our budget from the ground up, not the other way around. If the government decides to construct a railway when what the citizens really need are roads to access their farms and rural communities, then such an investment would amount to a waste of time.
“So the reason for this gathering is to ask you a very simple question. What do you want us to do? What do you want us to represent in next year’s budget that will speak to what you want? So that’s why we are here”, the Commissioner stated.
He noted that the practice of engaging citizens before finalising the budget was already producing positive outcomes, adding that insights from the previous forum accounted for 5% of last year’s total budget allocation.
Mr Anosike further explained that the 2025 budget, initially proposed at ₦617 billion, was expanded to ₦750 billion after Governor Alex Otti approved an upward review to accommodate inputs made during the engagement.
“It will interest you to know that the information we gathered by this time last year constituted 5% of our total budget allocation for last year”, he said.
The Commissioner said that stakeholders from Traditional Institutions, the Clergy, Youths, Person’s living with disabilities, and Civil Society Organisations were deliberately involved in the process to ensure inclusive representation.
He highlighted the achievements of the present administration under Governor Otti, stressing that the results of the present administration were visible without the need for publicity.
“The people who are here know that their salaries are paid like clockwork, and it has been like that since this government took over.
“Our streets are better paved now, most of them with solar lights. Our hospitals, health centres, education centres, just name it, this government is intentional about touching lives”, he said.
Also speaking, the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Co-chair for Non-State Actors, Mrs Priscilla Ogbonna, emphasised the importance of transparency and accountability in governance.
Mrs Ogbonna called for a citizen-driven approach to budget planning as well as a feedback mechanism, insisting that the budget must be simple, accessible and designed in a way that ordinary citizens can understand how public funds are raised, allocated and spent.
“The budget should be simple, It should be designed to impact the citizens’ daily lives and it must also have a channel for feedback.
“There should be a kind of feedback mechanism, this will make it more effective. It will build trust between government and citizens. It will empower people to hold their leaders accountable.
“It encourages business engagement in decision-making and again, it eradicates corruption through transparency and accountability.
“OGP believes that Civil Societies have a role in shaping and overseeing government from planning, implementation and monitoring”, Mrs Ogbonna said.
She commended Governor Otti for his administrations visible strides in infrastructure and other sectors of the State’s economy adding that the Governor’s performance is already giving Abia residents renewed confidence in governance.
The event which was attended by
stakeholders from Traditional Institutions, the Clergy, Youths, Person’s living with disabilities, and Civil Society Organisations, featured presentation on Medium Term Expenditure Framework (2026-2028) by the SSA to the Governor on Budget and Planning, Dr Eric Ekwuribe.
