Nigerian government plans to double basic healthcare fund allocation
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The Federal Government of Nigeria is working with the National Assembly to increase the statutory allocation to the Basic Health Care Provision Fund from one per cent to two per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, announced the move in Abuja to expand access to essential medical services. The government intends to pair this funding increase with expanded direct financing for at least 17,600 healthcare facilities.
The minister stated that the administration is introducing new measures to improve accountability and efficiency in how the fund is used. The government also seeks to broaden the fund's scope to include health research and health promotion. Since 2019, the fund has released ₦422.3bn, with ₦323.6bn disbursed as of September 2026. Salako noted that ₦249.6bn, or 77.1 per cent of those disbursements, occurred during the first three years of President Bola Tinubu's administration.
The fund supports primary healthcare, health insurance, and emergency medical services for poor and vulnerable Nigerians. National health insurance enrolment grew from 16.2 million in 2023 to 23.06 million by the third quarter of 2026. The fund also provided free surgeries and interventions for 96,068 women and babies. Additionally, the government is training 120,000 frontline health workers to strengthen the workforce, with 70,054 workers already trained as of 2026.
