Anambra State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Hon. Chiamaka Nnake said tax remained one of the major sources of government Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) for budget implementation.
Angel Network News (ANN) reports that
Mrs. Nnake who disclosed this during a post-budget media briefing at her office on Tuesday said the proposed budget size for 2026 is ₦757,884,487,705, representing a 24.1% increase over the 2025 budget of ₦606,991,849,118.
The Commissioner however said government had potentials to do more than the estimated IGR, with plans to device more efficient and creative ways of tax collection as well as expansion of tax bracket to ensure everyone was captured.
“The expansion in the 2026 budget
underscores our determination to deepen ongoing reforms and expand service delivery across all sectors.
“One of the major sources of government revenue for budget implementation is tax and Anambra hasn’t even scratched its potential in tax collection. We haven’t collected half of what we have potential to collect in the state.
“What we’ll be looking at doing it more efficiently and creatively, using technology to collect taxes, as well as expanding the tax bracket to ensure everyone is captured.
“Don’t forget, it’s not an Anambra thing. It’s an obligation of every Nigerian citizen to pay tax. Yes, culturally, we’re not used to paying tax, but we don’t have option than to pay our taxes as our civic duty.
“It’s also the citizens’ way of reciprocating government gesture of providing the necessary infrastructures.
“This year, our IGR estimation is N72bn which is well below especially when compared with Enugu which is doing over N100bn.
“But our budget is conservative and we have the potential to do more than N72bn. Mr Governor also promised of a new system to improve the efficiency of tax collection.
“On budget deficits, we expect external funding to support the budget towards infrastructure. Meanwhile, we won’t borrow for consumption, but rather projects that are commercially viable enough to pay back.
“We’ve had budget deficits in the past, yet we’ve not borrowed. This year won’t be different. We could only borrow based on the implementation we seek.
“If we must borrow, it’s for commercially viable projects and designed for redemption.”
The commissioner who was flanked by his Information counterpart, Dr Law Mefor further assured increased road construction in the coming months being peak of dry season.
“From November till probably March next year, lots of road construction, asphalting will happen, being peak of dry season. So we’ll expect budget implementation to double.
ANN gathered that the Recurrent Expenditure: ₦162.6 billion (16.6% year-on-year growth). Capital Expenditure: ₦595.3 billion (26.3% growth relative to 2025). Capital–Recurrent Ratio: 79% – 21%, reaffirming our priority on developmental projects and Budget Deficit: ₦225.7 billion – Represents 29.8% of the total budget size.
“Sectoral Allocations: Administrative Sector: 12.2% • Economic Sector: 26.7% • Social Sector: 31.4% • Education: 46.9%
• Health: 13% • Infrastructure Investments: 27.7%
Explaining futher, the Commissioner noted that “These allocations reflect strategic priorities: strengthening human capital, boosting economic growth, expanding critical infrastructure, enhancing security, and safeguarding the well-being of Ndi Anambra.
“The 2026 Budget signals not only continuity in the Solution Agenda but a significant acceleration in its implementation. It is designed to usher in major infrastructure projects that will stand as enduring legacy achievements of this administration.
“With this budget, we remain focused on building a safer, more prosperous, more innovative, and globally competitive Anambra. Solution continues — and at full speed.
