The National Assembly has urged the Appropriations Committee to provide dedicated take-off grants for newly established federal hospitals as part of a proposed N2.136 trillion allocation to the health sector in the 2026 budget.

Chairman of the Joint Senate and House Committees on Health, Senator Ipalibo Banigo, made the appeal while submitting the harmonised report on the 2026 budget proposals of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and its agencies.

She said the take-off grants were critical to ensure the effective commencement of operations at new tertiary health institutions, stressing that without immediate funding support, the facilities might struggle to deliver services.

The hospitals listed for urgent intervention include the Federal University Teaching Hospital Lafia, Federal University Teaching Hospital Akure, Federal University of Health Sciences Teaching Hospital Otukpo and Federal University of Health Sciences Teaching Hospital Ila-Orangun.

According to Banigo, the proposed 2026 health budget comprises N1.17 trillion for personnel costs, N57.03 billion for overhead and N924.25 billion for capital expenditure, bringing the total to N2.136 trillion.

She added that government aims to allocate six per cent of the total budget, net of liabilities, to the health sector in a bid to strengthen healthcare systems nationwide, revitalise hospitals with essential medicines and improve service delivery.

The committee, however, expressed concern that many hospitals were yet to receive full releases of their 2024 appropriations, with up to 60 per cent of payments still outstanding in some cases, despite the budgets being fully uploaded.

Deputy Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Tahir Monguno, assured lawmakers that the funding concerns would be addressed to ensure effective implementation of the 2026 health budget.

Meanwhile, in a related development, the Senate disclosed that the five South-east governors have agreed to contribute N25 billion to augment the N140 billion proposed for the South East Development Commission (SEDC) in 2026.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on SEDC, Senator Orji UzorKalu, said the governors of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states would contribute N5 billion each to accelerate development projects in the region, particularly in health and education, following funding shortfalls that stalled several initiatives in 2025. (Arise News)

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