By ERICJAMES OCHIGBO

The Minister of Health, Prof. Mohammed Pate, has blamed the low 2025 capital budget performance on constraints in appropriated funds disbursement to the ministry.

Ali gave the explanation on Monday at the 2026 budget defence session organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Healthcare Service in Abuja.

He said that the Federal Ministry of Health was unable to utilise its 2025 capital budget, having received only N36 million out of the N218 billion appropriated for the year.

He said though the ministry’s entire personnel budget was released and fully expended, the same could not be said of the capital component due largely to the bottom-up cash planning system operated by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

The minister said that the ministry was unable to access certain counterpart funds because of delays in the payment of counterpart fund contributions.

According to the minister, 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 said the overarching goal of the Nigerian Constitution and the National Health Act (NHAct) was to guarantee the right to health for all Nigerians.

Pate, however, said 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.

“The principles of Universal Health Coverage are central to the National Health Policy objective of strengthening Nigeria’s health system.

“It particularly focus on the Primary Health Care subsystem to deliver quality, effective, efficient, equitable, accessible, affordable, acceptable and comprehensive health services to all Nigerians,” he said.

Pate, however, said that that the policies and strategies underpinning the 2026 budget were derived from the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP), which outlines the federal government’s development priorities.

He explained that the ministry’s proposed 2026 budget was developed using the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) and aligned with the National Development Plan 2021–2025, which prioritised the justification and allocation of resources to projects and programmes based on actual needs.

He said that the 2026 budget aligned with the policy thrust and execution priorities of the federal government, as well as the ministerial deliverables of the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

The minister said that the 2026 budget proposal was rooted in the 2016 National Health Policy and guided by the Federal Ministry of Health’s Strategic Blueprint Initiatives.

According to him, the initiative serves as key policy instruments for achieving ministerial deliverables and advancing the global agenda of Universal Health Coverage.

He said:” 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, Rep. Amos Magaji (APC-Kaduna) requested for relevant document relating to donor funds received by the ministry and details of how the funds were utilised. (NAN)

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