Soludo ups health sector financing in 2025 to 57.1%

…Targets facility upgrade

Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo of Anambra State has affirmed that his administration will continue to improve the state’s health system with the construction, modernisation, and equipment of hospitals and healthcare centres for the well-being of the citizens.

With the health sector representing 57 percent of the 2025 budget, Governor Soludo stated that the state will continue to offer free antenatal and delivery services for pregnant women, with over 70,000 women as beneficiaries.

He said the refurbishing of 326 primary health centres is at advanced stages, while a historic trauma Centre is being constructed at the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, and the Okpoko General Hospital completed and fully operational, with four other new general hospitals onboard soon.

“As a proactive government, we have initiated the construction of the Coordinated Wholesale Centre at Oba, and this is a crucial step towards eliminating the issues associated with open and unregulated drug markets in the state,” Governor Soludo pointed out.

This was contained in the 2025 budget of N606,991,849,118 presented by Governor Soludo to the Anambra State House of Assembly, in Awka, the State Capital, with a 48 percent increase from the 2024 budget of N410,132,225,272, on Tuesday, 19th November 2024.

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With the budget christened “Changing Gears 2.0” and emphasis on acceleration and execution, recurrent expenditures account for N139.5 billion (YoY growth of 45.0%), while capital expenditure is N467.5 billion (YoY growth of 48.9%). The Capital Budget constitutes 77% of the total budget size, while recurrent expenditures account for 23% (the same ratios as for the 2024 budget). The budget deficit is estimated at N148.3 billion (24% of the budget compared to 30% in the 2024 budget).

In a release signed by Governor Soludo’s Chief Press Secretary, Christian Aburime, several key sectors are seeing significant increases: the administrative sector by 45.5%; the Economic sector by 40.1%; the Judiciary sector by 51.3%; the social sector by 82.7%; Education by 101.4%; and Infrastructure investment by 38.9%.

Also, in his assertion, Governor Soludo stated that twenty-two (22) secondary schools will be transformed into smart schools (with many more to follow in the new year), setting a standard for what an ideal school should be, through the Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB) programme.

The state has extended its free education policy up to Senior Secondary School Year 3 (SS3) and recruited an additional 3,115 teachers, increasing the number to 8,115. It has equipped 60 secondary school laboratories with the required Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) equipment. It has also increased the operational budgets for both primary and secondary schools to ensure they can deliver the quality education promised, among other initiatives.

The initial 5,000 graduates of the state’s ‘One Youth, Two Skills’ training programme for empowerment purposes, are now entrepreneurs, the Soludo administration has launched the second phase for 8,700 young people across various skills, setting aside N2.5 billion to support their start-up capital. Also, the Solution Innovation District (SID) propelled by the present government has trained 20,000 youths in four major tech skills and recently graduated 1,500 youths in its ‘Code Anambra Programme’.

According to Governor Soludo, the 2025 budget will lay the groundwork for a thriving and sustainable future for many generations to come.