Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has strongly cautioned the Federal Government against mismanaging the $1.07 billion budgeted for the health sector in 2025. He insisted that funds allocated to critical healthcare services must be transparently and accountably spent to ensure the benefits reach the intended recipients. Atiku also referenced past incidents where bizarre claims of animals such as snakes, termites, gorillas, and monkeys allegedly “swallowed” public funds, stressing that such scandals must never be the fate of the healthcare budget.
In a statement on Sunday, Atiku criticized the lack of transparency surrounding the intervention fund and called on President Bola Tinubu’s administration to disclose how it intends to utilize the budgeted sum. He emphasized the importance of accountability, noting that every kobo earmarked for the health sector must be used effectively to strengthen Nigeria’s fragile healthcare system.
Atiku expressed concern that in recent years, financial irregularities and unsubstantiated claims about missing funds had become common, yet no serious investigations were conducted to hold offenders accountable. According to him, “Against the backdrop of dwindling resources that have been exacerbated by the withdrawal of support in certain areas of our healthcare services, it is important that every kobo budgeted for the health sector be maximally utilized.”
He urged the Federal Government to put deliberate mechanisms in place for public audits and accountability in handling the $1.07 billion budgetary allocation. Atiku pointed out that the government has failed to provide a clear framework detailing how this substantial sum, along with the N2.48 trillion earlier proposed in the draft budget, will be spent.
The former Vice President emphasized that while healthcare investment is crucial for improving access to quality medical services, the government has a moral obligation to provide Nigerians with a detailed breakdown of how the funds will be allocated.
“We have read that the Federal Government plans to expend a whopping $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 budget draft. Nigerians deserve to know the details of these loans and how the funds will be spent. The budget should be accompanied by a clear policy framework explaining its disbursement,” he said.
Atiku was particularly concerned that the funds allocated for primary healthcare at the sub-national level were sourced mainly through foreign loans, with a fraction provided by an international donor agency. Given that Nigeria is obligated to repay these loans, he stressed that the public deserves full disclosure on the financial agreements, including repayment terms and expenditure plans.
He further accused the Federal Government of failing to commit to a single physical infrastructure project in the health sector despite the substantial budgetary allocation. According to him, this lack of commitment raises suspicions of potential mismanagement and corruption.
“The failure of the Federal Government to commit to a single physical infrastructure in expending the budgetary provision smacks of fraud,” Atiku remarked.
The government has stated that the funds will be directed toward improving healthcare governance and enhancing primary healthcare services nationwide. The financing will reportedly support the recruitment, training, and retention of healthcare workers and teachers at the sub-national level. However, Atiku questioned the credibility of these claims, citing the administration’s history of unfulfilled promises.
“For an administration that has been known to have a deficiency of trust in the administration of its humanitarian services, Nigerians cannot take the risk of accepting a shoddy explanation on a budgetary provision that lacks a mechanism of tracking how the money is to be expended,” he stated.
Atiku accused the Tinubu administration of consistently misleading Nigerians regarding improvements in the country’s healthcare system. He pointed out that, despite government claims of enhancing tertiary health institutions, many teaching hospitals still lack basic amenities, including a steady electricity supply.
“It is worrisome that the Tinubu administration continues to lie to Nigerians on the status of our tertiary hospitals when the sorry state of those hospitals lays bare for Nigerians to see,” he said.
He argued that the government has failed woefully in healthcare funding, particularly in addressing major diseases within the primary health sector, including malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS treatment.
“If President Bola Tinubu’s administration meant well in its claim to prioritize the health of Nigerians, his government should explain how it plans to spend this intervention fund in addressing these diseases in the primary health sector,” Atiku stated.
Atiku also highlighted concerns about Nigeria’s increasing reliance on foreign loans for essential services. He noted that the government’s recent announcement that the $1.07 billion intervention fund was sourced primarily from international lenders further complicates the situation.
“What the government announced in its panic response to President Donald Trump’s announcement of the cancellation of American aid for the treatment of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria was a paltry N5 billion,” he pointed out.
He warned that without a comprehensive framework to ensure accountability and transparency, the healthcare budget could be another avenue for corruption under the guise of public interest.
“If the Tinubu administration fails to provide a comprehensive framework to safeguard its purported huge investment in the health sector or subject the appropriations to the scrutiny of the National Assembly, it may be safe to conclude that this is another episode of the administration committing fraud in the name of public interest,” Atiku concluded.
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