Soludo’s 2026 Budget Places Education and Healthcare at the Core of Development Agenda

Soludo’s 2026 Budget Places Education and Healthcare at the Core of Development Agenda

Anambra State Governor, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, has placed education and healthcare at the centre of the state’s 2026 Budget Proposal, outlining an ambitious plan to expand access, upgrade facilities, and strengthen human capital development.

The budget earmarks ₦162.6 billion for recurrent expenditure and ₦595.3 billion for capital projects, with significant allocations targeted at building new schools, modernising existing ones, and completing ongoing health infrastructure.

According to the governor, his administration will begin the construction of new public primary schools in 30 out of the 76 communities that have never had one, setting what he described as a new standard for basic education in the state. He added that the government will intensify infrastructure upgrades across primary and secondary schools through various schemes, including the Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB).

Soludo revealed plans to establish two specialist tertiary institutions to strengthen the state’s higher education system and support mission schools. This forms part of broader reforms that include a free education policy from primary level to SS3 and the recruitment of an additional 3,115 teachers, bringing the total number of new hires to 8,115.

The governor noted that the state has already converted 22 secondary schools into smart schools, equipped more than 60 science laboratories, and increased operational funding for basic and secondary schools to support effective learning.

On healthcare, Soludo said his administration will deepen ongoing sector reforms while completing investments in the broader health ecosystem. This includes the completion of the College of Nursing, the construction of a specialist teaching hospital dedicated to oncology, and continued renovation and equipping of primary and secondary health facilities statewide.

He highlighted notable achievements, including the provision of free antenatal and delivery services to over 161,197 pregnant women, with 594 caesarean surgeries performed at zero mortality, a milestone he described as vital to reducing maternal deaths.

The government has also commissioned four new General Hospitals in previously underserved local government areas and is nearing completion of 326 primary healthcare centres equipped with solar power, boreholes, and essential medical equipment.

Additionally, the Trauma Centre at the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital has been completed, enhancing emergency response capacity. Soludo reaffirmed the administration’s determination to complete the Coordinated Wholesale Drug Centre in Oba, poised to become the largest pharmaceutical market in Africa, alongside the construction of a new nursing school to strengthen the state’s health workforce.