Benue Governor Presents N550bn Budget for 2025

Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, presented the 2025 budget proposal of N550 billion to the state Assembly on Wednesday, marking a 47.5% increase over the revised 2024 budget. The proposed budget, titled “Budget of Human Capital Development, Food Security, and Digital Economy,” aims to align with the state’s recurring revenue while avoiding unnecessary debt for future generations. Governor Alia noted that while the budget is projected to run a deficit, his administration anticipates borrowing a conservative N26 billion. The current expenditure for the budget is set at over N174 billion, allocated mainly for maintaining minimum wage payments and overhead costs. Meanwhile, capital expenditure is proposed at N375 billion, representing a 71.5% increase compared to the 2024 budget. The Governor emphasized that Benue State is among the few states managing its debt, paying salaries, and meeting financial commitments without relying heavily on borrowing. He explained that the proposed borrowing of N26.05 billion would represent only 4.7% of the total expenditure, which is well within the state’s debt sustainability threshold of 25%. The budget’s sectoral breakdown includes over N212 billion for governance and N197 billion for economic development. Other key sectors include education and knowledge management (N83 billion), health and human services (N83 billion), agriculture and food security (N84 billion), law and justice (N27 billion), security (N47 billion), infrastructure (N110 billion), and social welfare (N5 billion). Additionally, commerce is allocated N59 billion, digital economy N19 billion, and other sectors N35 billion.