Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has raised a red flag over the Federal Government’s allocation of $1.07 billion to the health sector in the 2025 Budget, warning that Nigerians must not witness another bizarre episode of missing public funds being attributed to snakes, termites, gorillas, or monkeys.
Atiku’s warning follows a series of past scandals where animals were absurdly blamed for swallowing or carting away public funds—claims that were never seriously investigated nor led to any form of accountability. Against this backdrop, the former vice president insists that every kobo allocated to healthcare must be used judiciously, especially in a time of dwindling national resources and reduced international support.
With Nigeria’s struggling health sector in dire need of urgent intervention, Atiku has challenged the Tinubu administration to provide full disclosure on how it intends to spend the over one billion dollars allocated to primary healthcare. He questioned why the government has failed to outline a clear spending plan, warning that a lack of transparency could pave the way for large-scale corruption.
“We have read that the Federal Government has a plan to expend a whopping sum of $1.07 billion in the primary health sector. This amount is in addition to the N2.48 trillion initially proposed for the health sector in the draft budget,” Atiku stated.
“What is even more troubling is that this additional $1.07 billion has been sourced mainly from foreign loans, with only a fraction provided through an international donor agency. Since Nigerians will eventually bear the burden of repaying these loans, they deserve to know the full details of these financial commitments, including how and where the funds will be spent,” he added.
Atiku accused the government of failing to commit to any physical infrastructure in its expenditure plans, describing the situation as a red flag for fraud. According to him, the government’s vague explanation that the funds will be used for “improving governance in healthcare” and “enhancing primary healthcare services nationwide” lacks specificity and does not inspire confidence.
“For an administration that has consistently struggled with trust issues, particularly in the handling of humanitarian services, Nigerians cannot afford to accept another vague explanation on such a significant budgetary provision,” he stated.
The former vice president did not hold back in his criticism of the government’s handling of tertiary healthcare. He condemned the administration’s claims of improvements in teaching hospitals, noting that Nigerians can clearly see the sorry state of these institutions, which often lack basic amenities such as electricity and essential medical supplies.
Atiku also pointed out that despite the government's claim of prioritizing healthcare, it has failed to properly fund the fight against malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS—the major diseases plaguing Nigeria’s primary health sector. He questioned how the Tinubu administration intends to allocate the intervention funds to address these challenges, especially in light of recent developments.
“When President Donald Trump announced the cancellation of American aid for HIV/AIDS treatment in Nigeria, the government’s response was a mere N5 billion—a sum far too small to address the scale of the problem. This raises serious concerns about whether this new budgetary allocation is truly intended to improve healthcare or simply another opportunity for financial mismanagement,” Atiku warned.
In conclusion, the former vice president insisted that unless the Tinubu administration provides a clear, comprehensive framework detailing how the $1.07 billion will be utilized and subjects the appropriation to rigorous oversight by the National Assembly, Nigerians may be witnessing yet another case of fraud disguised as public interest.
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