|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Image of Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate
Claim: Multiple media reports claim that the Federal Ministry of Health received only ₦36 million out of its ₦218 billion allocation for 2025.
Verdict: MISLEADING. The ₦218 billion figure referenced by the Minister refers specifically to the capital allocation for the Ministry of Health Headquarters, not the entire health sector allocation. The approved 2025 health budget stands at ₦2.38 trillion, according to official budget documents.
Full Text
Since Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, several news platforms circulated reports that the Federal Ministry of Health received only ₦36 million out of the ₦218 billion allocated in the 2025 budget. This remark was attributed to the Minister of Health, Muhammad Pate. He was said to have made this revelation during the 2026 budget defence session of the House of Representatives Committee on Health in Abuja.
The report was published by leading Nigerian news outlets, including PREMIUM TIMES, Peoples Gazette, Arise TV, ThisDAY, and Leadership Newspaper, with many attributing the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) as the original source.
Screenshot of Arise News report headline on X
Given Nigeria’s ongoing health sector challenges, the claim generated concerns on social media, with many questioning the funding priorities of Bola Tinubu’s administration, especially in a critical sector such as healthcare.
One X user alleged that the funds must have been misappropriated. “Tinubu budgeted 218 billion for health. According to his minister of health, they only released 36 million to his ministry and stole the rest,” he wrote.
“Tinubu spent less than 1 Naira per Nigerian on the healthcare capital project. And this is his Health Minister, Pate, presenting it casually. Nigerians are not angry enough,” GST, a digital media outlet focused on sociopolitical and economic issues, wrote.
While the minister’s remarks drew attention to a significant shortfall in actual releases, compared to approved allocations, a review of the Minister’s full statement and the 2025 approved Federal Government budget document shows that the reports omit critical context.
What the Minister Actually said
On Monday, the Minister of Health, Muhammad Pate, attended the budget defence session of the House of Representatives Committee on Health Services. Ministers are required to attend such sessions to review their ministry’s spending in the previous year and defend the budget proposal for the current year.
During the session, the minister quoted by Daily Trust said:
“The sum of ₦218,024,056,657.81 was appropriated to the Ministry for regular capital projects/programmes of the Ministry’s Headquarters. From the sum of ₦218,024,056,657.81 allocated for Projects/Programmes in 2025, only the sum of ₦36,000,000.00 representing 0.1% has so far been released and not utilised due to the Bottom-Up Cash Plan policy by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF). It is to be noted that the 2025 Capital budget is an unusual budget year as implementation was delayed for unforeseen circumstances.”
In this statement, the Minister clearly stated that the ₦218 billion allocation was meant for “regular capital projects/programmes of the Ministry’s Headquarters” and not the entire health sector or ministry.
It is important to note that the Federal Ministry of Health is made up of multiple health-focused agencies and departments, including the Ministry of Health headquarters, where the minister operates from. It also consists of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Basic Health Care Provision Fund, National Health Insurance Authority, all Federal Medical Centres (FMCs), University Teaching Hospitals and other health institutions, all of which operate under separate budget lines within the Federal Ministry of Health’s appropriation framework.
What the 2025 Budget Shows
A review of the Approved 2025 Federal Government Budget by UDEME, a social accountability project of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), shows that the total allocation to the Ministry of Health sector is ₦2.37 trillion (₦2,376,837,008,012), which is significantly larger than ₦218 billion reported.
An infographic of the Ministry of Health’s 2025 budget.
The ₦218 billion mentioned by Muhammad represents only a portion of the capital component was specifically allocated to the Ministry’s Headquarters.
Screenshot of the 2025 Ministry of Health budget’s breakdown showing allocations to headquaters and other health agencies under the ministry.
During the session, Muhammad also explained that the ₦36 million released had not been utilised due to the Bottom-Up Cash Plan policy implemented by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), in charge of capital releases, as well as other unforeseen circumstances which delayed budget implementation.
These contextual details were largely absent from the reports that framed the issue as a total funding failure, thus creating the impression that the entire health sector received only ₦36 million for capital projects in 2025.
Conclusion
The claim that the Federal Ministry of Health received only ₦36 million out of ₦218 billion allocated for its capital projects is misleading. The Minister of Health, Muhammad, explicitly stated that the ₦218 billion figure applies specifically to the capital allocation for the Ministry’s Headquarters, not the entire health sector or ministry, which records have shown was allocated ₦2.38 trillion in the 2025 approved budget. It is therefore important to establish clear distinctions between component allocations and total sectoral allocations for accurate reporting of public financial issues.
