A civil society group, Family Health Advocate in Nigeria Initiative (FHANI), has urged Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State to release the money allocated for family planning in the state.

The secretary of the organisation, Benjamin Maigari, spoke in an interview with journalists in Kaduna on Saturday on the one year anniversary of President Bola Tinubu and Mr Sani.

He, however, commended the state government for increasing the family planning budget for programming from N6.8 million in 2023 to N7.5 million in 2024.

Mr Maigari said it was a good idea for the administration and also called on them to approve the cash backing of the money, as it has been requested since March.

He said, “The cash backing has always been the problem. The state has had a budget of N250 million for family planning procurement since 2021, when the past government made the commitment.

“The money had been validated year in and year out due to the non-availability or cash backing of the said amount by the state government.

“The money is supposed to be put into the national family planning basket fund managed by UNFPA for procurement.

”We, as CSOs in Kaduna State, are calling on the state governor to cad back the amount immediately.”

Mr Maigari added that the state government needed to release its counterpart funding to UNFPA just as it did to UNICEF, Bill and Melinda Gates and Dangote Foundations.

He also commended the government for allocating 15 per cent of its total budget to health, thereby surpassing the Abuja declaration.

“We are calling on the state government to match its commitment with action by cash backing the money allocated to the health sector,” Mr Maigari appealed.

(NAN)