By Mercy Aikoye
Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Mohammed Ali Pate, has revealed that only 15.06% of the total capital allocation to the health sector in 2024 was released to the Ministry for capital projects. Prof. Pate made this disclosure while defending the Ministry’s 2025 allocation before the Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committee on Health.
According to the Minister, the delay in the release and cash backing of the capital allocation was due to the bottom-up cash plan policy of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation. He explained that out of the N233.656 billion allocated to the Ministry for capital projects in 2024, only N26.552 billion was released and utilized.
Prof. Pate further disclosed that the Ministry was yet to receive a single kobo from the N57.393 billion captured under the multilateral/bilateral loan for capital projects. He provided a breakdown of the total budget to the Ministry in 2024, which stood at N242,141,830,564.51, comprising N7,476,463,610 for personnel, N998,739,547 for overhead, and N233,656,627,407.51 for capital.
The Minister noted that the 2025 budget estimates showed a slight improvement, with N10,361,373,890.69 allocated for personnel, N1,590,382,403 for overhead, and N248,316,907,133 for capital. He emphasized that Nigeria’s health sector is guided by the vision 20:2020, the medium-term National Development Plan 2021-2025, and the National Strategic Health Development Plan.
Prof. Pate explained that the overarching goal of the Constitution and the National Health Act is to guarantee the right to health for all Nigerians. He added that the 2016 national health policy provides an implementation framework to translate the provisions of the national health Act and sustainable development goals into healthy lives and wellbeing for all Nigerian citizens.
The Minister stressed that the tenets of universal health coverage are central to the goal of the national health policy, which is to strengthen Nigeria’s health system, particularly the primary health care system. He noted that the policies and strategies of the 2025 budget are derivable from the 2025-2027 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper.
In response to questions from lawmakers, Prof. Pate emphasized the need for Nigerians to unite for the promotion of the health sector in the country. He noted that the current government is focusing on providing quality healthcare for Nigerians in various federal hospitals, despite the challenges in the country.
