Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has demanded a public audit of the $1.07 billion approved by the federal government for healthcare sector reforms under the Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity (HOPE) programme.
Atiku disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, emphasizing that a public audit is crucial, as “swallowing public funds must never be the fate of the funds budgeted for the critical health sector in the 2025 Budget.”
Abubakar’s reaction follows reports of the Federal Executive Council’s (FEC) approval of the $1.07 billion allocation for healthcare sector reforms.
Nairametrics previously reported that Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, while addressing State House correspondents after the FEC meeting earlier disclosed that the Federal Government had also approved N4.8 billion for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) treatment.
Breakdown of the Health Sector Funding
At the press briefing, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, corroborated the Finance Minister’s statement, explaining that the HOPE programme aligns with the administration’s agenda to strengthen human capital development.
- Pate stated that the funds would be directed towards improving governance in healthcare and enhancing primary healthcare services nationwide.
“This financing will support the recruitment, training, and retention of healthcare workers and teachers at the subnational level,” he said.
- He further noted that $500 million would be allocated to expanding the quality, utilization, and resilience of the primary healthcare system, including emergency maternal and child health services.
“As part of broader healthcare reforms, the council also approved N4.8 billion for the procurement of 150,000 HIV treatment packs over the next four months.
“This initiative underscores the federal government’s commitment to providing life-saving treatment and reducing healthcare costs for vulnerable populations,” he added.
Atiku Reacts
In his statement, Abubakar stressed that given Nigeria’s dwindling resources, which have been further exacerbated by the withdrawal of support in certain areas of healthcare services, every kobo allocated to the health sector must be maximally utilized.
“To this end, the Federal Government must be deliberate in putting mechanisms in place for public audit and accountability regarding its $1.07 billion budgetary allocation to the health sector,” he stated.
- The former Vice President specifically criticized the Federal Government for not providing comprehensive details on how it plans to spend the over one billion dollars earmarked for the primary health sector.
- Atiku argued that while healthcare—particularly primary healthcare—deserves urgent investment to ensure Nigerians have access to quality and affordable health services, it would be immoral and unlawful for the government to withhold extensive details on how these funds will be spent.
“We have read that the Federal Government plans to spend a whopping sum of $1.07 billion in the primary health sector. This amount is in addition to the N2.48 trillion earlier proposed for the health sector in the initial draft of the budget.
“This development becomes even more concerning when the government also announced that the $1.07 billion allocated to the health sector at the subnational level was mainly sourced from foreign loans, with a fraction provided by an international donor agency.
“In other words, Nigeria is expected to repay these loans, and it is imperative that the Nigerian people know the details of these loans, as well as ensure that their expenditure is framed within a policy document explaining how the funds will be utilized,” Atiku stated.
- Abubakar further asserted that if President Bola Tinubu’s administration is sincere in its commitment to prioritizing Nigerians’ health, it must explain how this intervention fund will be used to tackle diseases in the primary health sector.
- He also alleged that the federal government’s recent plans for HIV/AIDS treatment are merely a “panic response” to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement regarding the cancellation of American aid for HIV/AIDS treatment in Nigeria.
He warned that if the Tinubu administration fails to establish a comprehensive framework to safeguard its significant investment in the health sector, or neglects to subject the appropriations to scrutiny by the National Assembly, it could amount to another fraud disguised as public interest project.
More Insights
The Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity (HOPE) programme was established with support from the World Bank.
In September 2024, the World Bank approved financing for the programme to help Nigeria improve its human capital development, particularly in the basic education and primary healthcare sectors.
