The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Mohammed Pate, revealed on Friday that only 15.06 per cent of the capital component in the 2024 budget had been released to the ministry for its operations.

This revelation was made at the 2025 budget defence session with the National Assembly Joint Committee on Health in Abuja.

Mr Pate explained that out of the N233,656 billion allocated to the ministry for capital projects in 2024, only N26,552 billion had been released and utilised.

He attributed the delay in the release of funds for its capital allocation to the bottom-up cash plan policy of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

According to him, the ministry is yet to receive a kobo from the N57.3 billion captured under the multilateral/bilateral loan for capital projects.

The total budget to the ministry in 2024 stood at N242,141,830,564.51, with N7,476,463,610 allocated for personnel, N998,739,547 for overhead, and N233,656,627,407.51 for capital.

The amount was slightly improved in the 2025 budget estimates, with N10,361,373,890.69 allocated for personnel, N1,590,382,403 for overhead, and N248,316,907,133 for capital.

Mr Pate noted that Nigeria’s health sector was guided by Vision 20:2020, the Medium Term National Development Plan 2021-2025, and the National Strategic Health Development Plan.

He stated that the overarching goal of the constitution and the National Health Act was to guarantee the right to health for all Nigerians.

“The 2025 proposed budget of the ministry was prepared using the budget preparation system on the GIFTS platform, which is compatible with the National Development Plan 2021-2025 approach.

“It demands justification and allocation of resources to projects and programmes in a given year based on needs and aligning with the policy of the government, especially as encapsulated in the core objectives and execution priorities,” he said.

Mr Pate urged Nigerians to unite to promote the health sector, adding that the government was focusing on providing quality healthcare for citizens in the various federal hospitals.

He said the executive order signed by President Bola Tinubu in June 2024 had improved local drug production in the country, with many local manufacturers taking advantage of it to improve their facilities.

 “We have the required qualified manpower in the country, and that is why other countries are looking for our medical personnel,” he said.

The committee resolved to look into releases of funds for the ministry to enable it to meet its programmes that seek to deliver quality healthcare to all Nigerians.

(NAN)