Poor Release Hinder Our 2025 Capital Budget Utilisation-Health Minister …Says, Ministry Received Only N36M Out Of N218Bn Capital Allocation

By Alkassim Bala Tsakuwa, Abuja

The Minister of Health, Prof. Mohammed Ali Pate, has informed that the Ministry was unable to utilise its 2025 capital budget because it received only ₦36 million out of the ₦218 billion appropriated for the year.

He informed that, the Ministry was unable to access funding for some of its projects because of delays in the release of Nigeria’s counterpart fund contributions.

He stated this while giving an overview of the Ministry’s 2025 budget performance at the 2026 budget defence session held by the House Committee on Healthcare Services on Monday.

According to him, the Ministry had its entire personnel budget released and fully expended while only a fraction of the capital component was released due to the bottom-up funding system being operated by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

The Minister further informed the Committee that, Nigeria’s health sector is guided by Vision 20:2020, the Medium-Term National Development Plan (NDP) 2021–2025, and the National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP) II.

He stressed that, the ultimate goal of the Nigerian Constitution and the National Health Act (NHAct) is to guarantee the right to health for all Nigerians adding that, the 2016 National Health Policy provides the implementation framework for translating the provisions of the National Health Act and the Sustainable Development Goals into improved health outcomes and wellbeing for citizens.

He said, “The principles of Universal Health Coverage are central to the National Health Policy objective of strengthening Nigeria’s health system—particularly the Primary Health Care subsystem—to deliver quality, effective, efficient, equitable, accessible, affordable, acceptable and comprehensive health services to all Nigerians”.

Prof. Pate further disclosed that the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) are the main fulcrums of policies and strategies underpinning the 2026 budget and outline the Federal Government’s development priorities.

According to the minister, the Ministry prepared its 2026 proposed budget using the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), in line with the National Development Plan 2021–2025, which emphasises justification and allocation of resources to projects and programmes based on actual needs.

He added that the budget proposal aligns with the policy thrust and execution priorities of the Federal Government, as well as the ministerial deliverables of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.

The Minister further noted that the 2026 budget proposal is anchored on the 2016 National Health Policy and 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.

He added that the National Health Policy 2016, themed: “Promoting the Health of Nigerians to Accelerate Socio-economic Development,” provides the foundation for the National Strategic Health Development Plan II and supports accelerated implementation of the National Health Act, 2014.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the House Committee on Healthcare Services, Hon. Amos Gwamna Magaji, directed the Minister to furnish the Committee with all relevant documents relating to donor funds received by the Ministry and details of how such funds were utilised.