Pate Reveals Health Ministry Has Accessed N36m of N218bn 2025 Allocation

Concerns over the execution of vital health infrastructure projects around the country have been raised by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare’s disclosure that it has only received ₦36 million of its ₦218 billion capital budget for the 2025 fiscal year.

During a budget defense session with National Assembly lawmakers, Health Minister Professor Mohammed Pate made the revelation.

Although the ministry’s human budget had been used up in full, Professor Pate informed the parliamentarians that capital projects had mostly stopped because of significant funding delays.

He claims that while “the budget’s personnel component has been fully utilized, capital projects are facing serious setbacks because releases have not been made.”

The minister ascribed the delay to issues with the cash planning system of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and to delays in counterpart money needed for programs financed by donors.

According to him, “the execution of our capital projects has been significantly impacted by issues surrounding cash planning and delayed counterpart contributions.”
Amos Magaji, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Healthcare Services, responded by expressing alarm about the state of affairs and calling for more transparency on donor funding.

Magaji emphasised the need for openness and efficient oversight and asked the minister to formally provide detailed information about donor funds received by the ministry and how they were used.