The Federal Government has approved a proposed amendment to the National Mental Health Act to remove criminal penalties for attempted suicide and promote a care-based approach to affected persons.
The amendment will be sent to the National Assembly for legislative consideration, with the proposed changes aiming to replace punitive measures with treatment, protection and appropriate support.
He disclosed this when briefing State House correspondents on the resolutions reached at the Federal Executive Council meeting.
Pate said the review was needed because attempted suicide was still an offense under colonial-era provisions of the Criminal Code Act and Penal Code, whereas the National Mental Health Act provided for care and protection for persons at risk of self-harm.
He explained that, under the current legal framework, people experiencing mental health challenges who attempt suicide could still be arrested and prosecuted.
“The idea is that attempted suicide is not a crime,” Pate said. He stressed that people who attempt suicide because of mental illness should be treated as persons requiring care and support rather than as offenders.
The amendment was the result of extensive deliberations involving mental health advocates, the Ministry of Justice, the Attorney-General’s Office, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, a task force and the National Assembly, he said.
The aim, Pate said, is to move away from criminalization and toward treatment and support, with the expectation that the reform will contribute to a decrease in both completed suicides and suicide attempts.
We want to reduce it by 15% by 2030,” the minister said.
Pate said the reform would also help Nigeria tackle the larger burden of mental ill-health in the country.
The Federal Executive Council also approved the National Center for Oral Health Establishment Bill 2026 for the National Assembly.
“The proposed center will be a national referral and research institution for oral health services and also establish a comprehensive legal and institutional framework for the management of oral diseases and other oral health-related conditions in Nigeria,” Pate said.
The initiative, he said, was rooted in a 1982 International Congress of Oral Health Research held in Lagos, which recommended the establishment of an inter-country demonstration, training and research center for the African region.
He said the Ministry of Health had set up a center but it did not have the legal framework to back it up.
The proposed legislation is expected to provide the legal foundation and strengthen Nigeria’s institutional capacity in oral health.
Pate said the development would fill a major gap in the country’s health infrastructure, saying Nigeria already had specialized institutions in fields like teaching hospitals, federal medical centers, orthopedic care, eye care, ear, nose and throat services and snake-bite treatment.
The Council also approved contracts for several major infrastructure upgrades at the National Hospital, Abuja.
Pate said the hospital was set up some 25 to 26 years ago with an ultimate vision of being a quaternary healthcare center but had not been receiving the requisite infrastructure and equipment upgrades over the years.
He said the approvals were in line with the instruction of President Bola Tinubu to transform the country through infrastructure upgrades and better equipment in the health sector.
The approved contracts include the refitting of the administrative and management block of the National Hospital, which was awarded to Visible Construction Limited at the cost of N18,740,038.
Strabbing Construction Limited was awarded N64,917,827,000 for construction of modular clinics and a theater complex.
The project will offer modular clinics for different specialties and theaters, Pate said.
CBC Global Civil Construction Limited has been awarded another contract for a high-end wing at the National Hospital for N103 billion, with a completion period of 24 months.
The Council also approved the construction of a Neuroscience Institute at the National Hospital for CBC Global Civil and Building Construction Limited for N69 billion.
Pate said the neuroscience facility would provide dedicated infrastructure for neurosurgical, radiological, interventional and rehabilitation services.
Such specialized infrastructure was particularly important for patients suffering from conditions including stroke, brain tumors and other diseases affecting the brain and nervous system, he said.
The size of the approvals showed the need for Nigeria to invest heavily in healthcare infrastructure, the minister said.
“Good quality healthcare doesn’t come cheap. “Nigeria needs to invest in its healthcare system to have the healthcare system we need,” he said.
Pate noted that the cumulative investment approved for the National Hospital by the present administration was more than what was invested in the institution in the past 27 years.
The Federal Executive Council also okayed a major project for the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT).
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The project includes the design, construction, furnishing, equipment, supervision and commissioning of a National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment Center.
The contract was awarded to CBC Global Civil and Building Construction Nigeria Limited for N302,304,243,000, and is to be completed within 36 months.
The project was part of a larger Federal Government effort to strengthen the country’s cancer research and treatment infrastructure, Pate said.
He said President Tinubu had earlier approved the upgrade of cancer centers and equipment, with facilities in Katsina, Benin and Enugu already completed and inaugurated.
The minister said the new center at NICRAT would act as a flagship institution for cancer research, treatment, innovation and capacity building.
Pate said NICRAT had already been included in the 2025 and 2026 budgets.
He also said the contracts for the National Hospital and NICRAT were funded from resources appropriated by the legislature to the relevant agencies and entities and not found in the Federal Ministry of Health.
He said the agencies followed due process and got clearances through competitive procurement procedures involving the Bureau of Public Procurement.
He said the contractors chosen were evaluated for their ability to carry out specialized hospital and health infrastructure projects in the set timelines.
He said the procurement processes and relevant matrices were open to scrutiny and had been reviewed by the Federal Executive Council without objection from the Bureau of Public Procurement.
The scale of approvals for health infrastructure was unprecedented, the minister said, adding Nigeria had not invested enough in health infrastructure in the past.
“The poor state of many health facilities in the country showed the need for more investment in the sector, he said.
Pate said Nigeria has not traditionally invested as much in health as it does in roads, although roads are a major contributor to economic growth.
“We are starting to change that and thanks to His Excellency, Mr President,” he said.
As the Nigerian economy and government revenue grow, more resources would inevitably need to be devoted to healthcare, he added.
Pate said poor revenue had led to the negligence of health infrastructure at the federal and state levels, leading to poor infrastructure and inadequate equipment in many primary healthcare centers and general hospitals.
The government was now on a path to address those deficiencies, he said.
“Our goal is to ensure that they are executed and that Nigerians can be able to see a transformation of the National Hospital as well as a befitting cancer center here at NICRAT,” he said.
Also the minister said that the investments were expected to reduce the need for Nigerians to travel long distances to access specialized health care and contribute to reducing medical tourism.