Nigeria’s Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate revealed on Monday that the Ministry could not implement a huge part of the 2025 budget as a result of the bottom-up cash planning system operated by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
The Minister who made this disclosure at the 2026 budget defence session of the Ministry before the House of Representatives Committee on Healthcare Services, explained that out of the N218 billion appropriated for the 2025 fiscal year, only N36 million was released to the Ministry.
Prof. Pate noted that while the Ministry’s entire personnel budget was released and fully expended, the same could not be said of the capital component, informing lawmakers that the Ministry was unable to access most counterpart fundings due to Nigeria’s delay in meeting her counterpart contributions; a development, he said stalled implementation of the Ministry’s 2025 budget capital component.
According to the Minister, Nigeria’s health sector is guided by Vision 20:2020, followed by a Medium-Term National Development Plan (NDP) 2021–2025, and the National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP) II; policies and strategies that underpins the 2026 budget, which is also in line with the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, outlining the Federal Government’s development priorities.
Prof. Pate assured lawmakers that the 2026 budget proposal is anchored on the 2016 National Health Policy, guided by the Federal Ministry of Health’s Strategic Blueprint Initiatives, which serve as key policy instruments for achieving ministerial deliverables and advancing the global agenda of Universal Health Coverage.
The Committee Chairman, Representative Amos Magaji, while adopting the Ministry’s presentation, directed the Minister to provide lawmakers with all relevant documents relating to donor funds received in the year under review with comprehensive details showing how the released funds were utilised.
(Editor: Ken Eseni)
