The Enugu State government says it has earmarked N10 billion in the 2026 budget as the state’s equity contribution to the first phase of the 135.5 kilometres standard gauge rail it plans to build.

Chris-Roberts Ozongwu, the state commissioner for budget and planning, disclosed this during a budget breakdown at the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, Enugu, on Thursday.

Governor Peter Mbah had on December 2, presented N1.62 trillion2026 budget, christened “Budget of Renewed Momentum” before the Enugu State House of Assembly.

The budget figure, which has a 66.5 per cent increase over the N971 billion revised 2025 budget, comprises N1.3 trillion capital expenditure, representing 80 per cent of the total budget and N321.2 billion recurrent expenditure, representing 20 per cent of the budget.

Mr Ozongwu said the rail project was in keeping with Mr Mbah’s campaign promise to evolve a multimodal transport system incorporating rail, tram and inland water services to complement existing road transportation in the state.

“The rail project is also designed to terminate at the doorsteps of the neighbouring states for easy continuation to enhance connectivity, especially among the South East States.

“In the same vein, the government also plans to add additional 14 aircraft to increase the fleet of the state-owned airline, Enugu Air, to 20 planes by the end of 2026,” Mr Ozongwu said.

He explained that Enugu Air, which launched in July, 2025, with three aircrafts, had been quite lucrative, noting that the government had concluded plans to add three planes to the airline’s current fleet to bring it to six before the end of the year.

“Other planned key expenditures in the transport in the coming year include a N10 billion equity contribution to the Akanu Ibiam International Airport concession in line with Mbah’s vision to make Enugu, a West African regional aviation and logistics hub,” he said.

Mr Ozongwu added that the government had also earmarked another N10 billion for vehicle manufacturing programme that would see the state procure and have assembled in Enugu, a total of 2,100 taxis.

The gesture, he said, was part of Mr Mbah’s administration’s youth empowerment scheme and the Distress Response Squad (DRS), the state’s special police unit.

On agriculture, the commissioner said that the government allocated N49 billion for the construction of farm estates across the 17 local government areas in the state.

According to him, this is to ensure adequate food production for the state and for export and local consumption.

Mr Ozongwu said that the government also budgeted N27 billion for the establishment of three Special Agricultural Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs) and N7 billion for the purchase of tractors and implements to assist mechanized farming.

He explained that the government was confident that the 2026 budget would outperform the 2025 budget, adding that Mbah ran the state with a private sector mentality.

He said that the allocation of 51.1 per cent and 40.1 per cent of the total budget to the economic sector and social sector, respectively, underscored the administration’s commitment to private sector-driven economic growth and human development.

“We achieved about 85 per cent of our performance and it is almost likely that we will continue in that same trajectory to move the state to 90 per cent performance.

“We have the indices to do that. We have the personnel, acumen and ready to raise the money to do that. Expect better performance next year,” the commissioner said.

(NAN)