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Changing Gears 2.0: Soludo’s Acceleration Budget For Anambra

By Christian ABURIME In an era where Nigerian states often retreat behind the shield of “economic headwinds,” Anambra State is charting a remarkably different course.
This is evident in Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s presentation of the N607 billion 2025 budget. Aptly tagged “Changing Gears 2.0”, the budget tells a compelling story of fiscal ingenuity, one where ambitious development meets pragmatic restraint.
The numbers are striking, not for their size, but for their context. At $357 million, this budget is actually smaller in real terms than what the state spent in 2008 ($517 million) or 2013 ($1.1 billion). Yet, paradoxically, it promises to deliver even more.
This is not just political rhetoric; it is backed by a clear track record of execution. Consider the mathematics of adversity: cement prices have more than tripled to N10,000 per bag, fuel costs have skyrocketed tenfold to over N1,000 per litre, and inflation continues its relentless march.
Lesser administrations might have used these as ready-made excuses. Instead, Governor Soludo’s team has transformed these constraints into a catalyst for innovation. Instructively, the budget’s architecture reveals a government that understands the art of prioritisation.
A 77:23 ratio of capital to recurrent expenditure is beyond just a number; it is a significant shift in state-level governance.
Most Nigerian states struggle to keep their recurrent expenditure below 70%.
By driving it down to 23%, Anambra State under the leadership of Governor Soludo is effectively saying: we will run a lean government to build a rich state.
But perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this budget is its candid honesty about weaknesses.
The state’s IGR currently stands at N2.5 billion monthly, against a potential of N10-15 billion.
This admission is not just all about transparency; it is also a challenge to the status quo. It suggests a government willing to confront its shortcomings rather than hide them. What’s more, the execution strategy reads like a business plan rather than a typical government document.
From transforming 22 schools into “smart schools” to distributing millions of economic seedlings and trees, from building the “largest shopping mall in Africa” to creating three new cities, the ambition is breathtaking.
Yet it is tempered with fiscal responsibility: the administration won’t borrow unless the loans are concessionary and tied to self-liquidating projects.
What is particularly noteworthy is the state’s approach to human capital development.
The extension of free education through SS3, recruitment of 8,115 teachers, and the innovative “One Youth, Two Skills” programme suggests a government thinking beyond the next election.
This is governance with a generational perspective. However, the true genius of this budget lies not in what it promises to spend, but in how it plans to achieve more with less.
The emphasis on strategic partnerships, community involvement, and private sector engagement suggests a recognition that the government alone cannot drive development. Critics might argue that the budget’s ambitions exceed its means.
But therein lies its brilliance: by setting ambitious targets while maintaining fiscal discipline, it creates a productive tension between aspiration and reality.
This tension, if properly managed, could be the catalyst for innovation in governance.
As Nigeria contends with the aftermath of fuel subsidy removal and currency unification, Anambra’s approach offers a template for other states.
“One Youth, Two Skills” programme suggests a government thinking beyond the next election.
It demonstrates that the answer to economic challenges is not always more money; sometimes, it is smarter money. Now, the success of this budget will ultimately depend on execution.
But by maintaining a capital-heavy investment profile while keeping recurrent costs low, prioritising revenue generation while resisting reckless borrowing, and balancing ambitious development with fiscal restraint, Governor Soludo is showing that it is possible to dream big while spending smart.
In the end, this “Changing Gears 2.0” budget is more than another routine financial document replete with platitudes.
It is a masterclass in governance under constraint, audaciously extending the mantra of Doing More with Less and representing another major step towards realising Governor Soludo’s vision of transforming Anambra into a smart, livable and prosperous mega city.
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JUST IN: Filling stations shut after Dangote Refinery’s petrol price drop

Some filling stations and petroleum products marketers, partners of Dangote Refinery’s petrol, temporarily shut down for the past five days after the latest premium motor spirit price drop by the 650,000 barrels per day refinery.
Recall that for the past five days, MRS filling stations in Abuja, along Kubwa Expressway, and others have not dispensed fuel since Dangote Refinery announced its ex-depot fuel price reduction to N835 per litre on Tuesday, 16 April, 2025.
An official of MRS filling station, who preferred anonymity because he is not authorised to speak said the filling station is grappling with the loss incurred after Dangote’s latest price adjustment.
“It is because of Dangote’s latest price drop. The filling station had old stock, which it couldn’t sell at a loss.
“This is the reason we have shut down since Tuesday. We may reopen on Tuesday,” he said.
Meanwhile, another official at the filling station said the retail outlet is billed to reopen on Tuesday, noting that it has been undergoing minor maintenance.
“We have been on maintenance for the past few days, which is the reason the station was shut. We will reopen on Tuesday,” he said.
According to him, the filling station would commence dispensing at the new price of N910 per litre from Tuesday.
Other partners of Dangote Refinery, such as AP, Ardova, and Optima, are dispensing fuel between N910 and 920 per litre in parts of Abuja as of Monday, 21st April 2025.
Reacting to the development, the National President of Petroleum Retailers Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said the latest fuel price drop affected the purchasing power of petrol retailers and marketers.
According to him, indiscriminate price adjustment, whether downward or upward, is not good for the petroleum downstream sector and the Nigerian economy.
At every point, if prices of petrol are indiscriminately changed without any clearly defined economic reason, the chances that it will impact on the buying power of retailers and marketers are there.
“It is not good for business, the economy, and Nigerians.
“Prices of petrol change for reasons that are understandable with proper information to retailers,” he said.
Recall that Gillis-Harry had earlier called for a six-month fuel price stability plan to halt fluctuations.
Earlier, the spokesperson for the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, had hinted that marketers having old stocks of fuel will incur billions of losses following Dangote’s latest fuel price drop.
Last week became the second time the $20 billion refinery reduced its fuel price nationwide. This indicates a combined downward ex-depot price drop of N45 per litre.
Dangote Refinery had, on 10 April, reduced its gantry price of petrol to N865 per litre.
However, the ex-depot fuel price had further dropped to N835 per litre.
This comes after the federal government’s renewed commitment to the indefinite continuation of the naira-for-crude deal with other local refiners and the drop in global crude prices to around $66 per barrel.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited recently reduced its retail price to N935 per litre for customers in Abuja in response to Dangote Refinery’s latest price cut.
This means that Nigerians currently buy petrol at between N890 and N950 per litre, depending on the location nationwide.
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NNPC’s Olufemi Soneye Emerges NIPR Spokesperson for 2025
Responding, Soneye attributed his recognition by the NIPR with its most exalted spokesperson’s award to the dedication of the entire team at the NNPC.

Soneye (middle) receive NIPR’s prestigious award .
The Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mr. Olufemi Soneye, has emerged the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) spokesperson of 2025.Announcing the award, the NIPR described Soneye as a “diligent” spokesperson, characterising him as “a strategist.” Soneye’s capacity to shape public opinion, also stood him out of the crowd of spokespersons, according to the Adjudication Committee, Chairman, Dr. Shaibu Hussein.
Represented by a member of the committee chairman, Lami Tuiaka, the chairman said the moment to the conclusion of the award was rigorous and demanding. He also predicated Soneye’s victory on his communication skills, crisis management and overall impact.
“Our committee comprising communication scholars, Public Relations practitioners, and media personalities worked tirelessly to review the nomination, assess performances and deliberate on the winner.
I must report that we carefully examined each nomination, considering factors such as communication skills, crisis management and overall impact,” he said.
Presenting him the plaque at the National Spokespersons Award 2025, chairman of the event Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Power, Hon. Joshua Audu, said the institute would celebrate Soneye throughout 2025 as the current NIPR spokesperson award winner.
He said: ” On behalf of the NIPR Award Night 2025, I have the honour and privilege to present the Spokesperson of the year 2025. Please join me to celebrate our latest spokesperson that we will celebrate throughout 2025 in the person of Olufemi Soneye.”
Responding, Soneye attributed his recognition by the NIPR with its most exalted spokesperson’s award to the dedication of the entire team at the NNPC.
Amid a standing ovation, he said: “We are all happy and I am deeply honoured to receive this award tonight from NIPR. This award reflects the dedication of our entire team and we want to thank NIPR for all they have been doing.”
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Mission to boldly grow food in space labs blasts off
ESA is funding the research to explore new ways of reducing the cost of feeding an astronaut, which can cost up to £20,000 per day.

Artwork: The experiment will orbit the Earth for three hours before returning to Earth and splashing down off the coast of Portugal.
(BBC): Steak, mashed potatoes and deserts for astronauts could soon be grown from individual cells in space if an experiment launched into orbit today is successful.
A European Space Agency (ESA) project is assessing the viability of growing so-called lab-grown food in the low gravity and higher radiation in orbit and on other worlds.
ESA is funding the research to explore new ways of reducing the cost of feeding an astronaut, which can cost up to £20,000 per day.
The team involved say the experiment is a first step to developing a small pilot food production plant on the International Space Station in two years’ time.
Lab-grown food will be essential if Nasa’s objective of making humanity a multi-planetary species were to be realised, claims Dr Aqeel Shamsul, CEO and founder of Bedford-based Frontier Space, which is developing the concept with researchers at Imperial College, London.
“Our dream is to have factories in orbit and on the Moon,” he told BBC News.
“We need to build manufacturing facilities off world if we are to provide the infrastructure to enable humans to live and work in space”.
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