Nigeria’s Health Ministry received only a fraction of its allocated capital budget for 2025, the Coordinating Minister of Health, Mohammed Pate, has revealed. Out of N218 billion earmarked for the ministry, just N36 million was released, severely limiting the government’s ability to implement key healthcare projects.
Pate disclosed this on Monday while defending the ministry’s 2026 budget before the House Committee on Healthcare Services. He said the shortfall was largely due to delays in the bottom-up cash planning system and slow disbursement of Nigeria’s counterpart contributions.
“These funding gaps hindered our capacity to strengthen primary healthcare and advance Universal Health Coverage, which are central goals of the National Health Policy”, Pate said.
The minister added that the 2026 budget proposal, prepared using the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), is designed to allocate resources based on actual needs, in line with the National Development Plan 2021–2025 and the Federal Government’s health priorities under President Bola Tinubu.
Under the proposed 2026 budget, the health sector is slated to receive N2.48 trillion, reflecting a significant boost aimed at improving healthcare delivery across the country.
The committee’s chairman, Hon. Amos Magaji, has requested that Pate submit detailed reports on all donor funds received by the ministry and how they were utilised.
