Gov Otu presents N780.6bn budget for 2026

Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State has presented a N780.6 billion budget for the 2026 fiscal year to the State House of Assembly, with a focus on education, health, and social protection. Tagged the “Budget of Inclusive Growth,” the 2026 appropriation represents a 17 percent increase over the current year’s budget. The 2025 budget, […]

Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State has presented a N780.6 billion budget for the 2026 fiscal year to the State House of Assembly, with a focus on education, health, and social protection.

Tagged the “Budget of Inclusive Growth,” the 2026 appropriation represents a 17 percent increase over the current year’s budget.

The 2025 budget, titled “Budget of Sustainable Growth,” was initially pegged at about N538.5 billion before a supplementary appropriation approved in August 2025 raised the total to roughly N642 billion.

Governor Otu said the new budget is designed to consolidate the gains of his administration’s People First philosophy.

Providing a breakdown of the proposal, he explained that N519.6 billion—representing 67 percent of the total—is allocated to capital expenditure, while N260.96 billion, or 33 percent, is for recurrent spending.

The sectoral distribution of the 2026 budget includes N421 billion for the economic sector, N163 billion for social services, N164 billion for general administration, N28 billion for law and justice, and N3.6 billion for regional development.

Otu noted that the budget was the product of “wide-ranging consultations with civil society groups, private sector players, NGOs, and the general public.”