The Abia government has commenced consultations with citizens and stakeholders to identify priority areas for inclusion in the state’s 2027 budget.

The commissioner for budget and economic planning, Kingsley Anosike, disclosed this at a citizens’ engagement forum at the Aguiyi Ironsi Conference Centre, Umuahia, on Thursday.

Mr Anosike said the engagement was meant to ensure the 2027 budget reflected the needs, aspirations, and realities of the people.

According to him, the consultation was particularly important because the 2027 budget will be the last budget cycle of the current administration.

Mr Anosike said citizens’ contributions would help determine the priorities and projects to be included in the Abia government’s final fiscal plan. He said that the present administration would not prepare the budget solely from the perspective of government officials, without considering the views of the people.

Mr Anosike said that the previous citizens’ engagements influenced government decisions, citing the redesign of the latest batch of electric buses to include ramps for persons with disabilities. He added that Abia Government cancelled an initial order for 20 buses after stakeholders raised concerns about accessibility for persons living with disabilities during an earlier engagement.

The special adviser to the governor on budget and economic planning, Eric Egwuibe, said Abia’s expenditure was classified into administration, economic, law and justice, and social development sectors.

While reviewing the 2026 budget performance for the first six months, Mr Egwuibe said N64 billion was allocated to administration, N550 billion to the economic sector, N13 billion to law and justice and N387 billion to the social sector. He said that the economic sector remained critical because investment in infrastructure and productive activities could stimulate economic growth and expand the state’s revenue base.

Mr Egwuibe said that the Otti-led administration had made budget documents and quarterly implementation reports accessible to the public as part of its commitment to transparency.

On the 2027 budget outlook, Egwuibe said that the Abia government was working with key economic assumptions provided by the National Bureau of Statistics. He listed the assumptions as 15.9 per cent inflation, 4.3 per cent GDP growth, $60 per barrel oil benchmark, crude oil production of 1.7 million barrels per day and an exchange rate of N1,432 to the dollar.

(NAN)