Only 0.02% of Nigeria’s 218 billion naira ($ ) capital allocation for the health sector in the 2025 budget has been released, raising concerns among health professionals about worsening infrastructure gaps and declining service delivery.
The minister of health and social welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, told lawmakers during the 2026 budget defense before the House Committee on Healthcare Services that just 36 million naira of the 218 billion naira appropriated for capital projects in 2025 had been disbursed.
“Out of the N218bn appropriated to the health sector by the parliament for the execution of capital projects in the 2025 fiscal year, only N36m was released,” Pate said, attributing the ministry’s inability to implement projects to the gap between allocated and released funds.
The released amount represents about 0.015% of the approved capital budget.
Health experts say the shortfall has stalled critical projects, including hospital upgrades, procurement of medical equipment and expansion of primary health care facilities, at a time when Nigeria faces high maternal and neonatal mortality rates, heavy disease burdens and rising out-of-pocket health spending.
Nigeria has also failed to meet the African Union’s 2001 Abuja Declaration target of allocating at least 15% of national budgets to health.
Dr. Babajide Saheed, chairman of the Lagos State branch of the Nigerian Medical Association , described the low release of capital funds as disappointing and warned it could worsen health outcomes.
“That shows that the health of Nigerians is not their priority,” Saheed said. “Capital projects are part of the development of the health sector. If you give an important sector like health a low allocation for capital projects, there will be less infrastructure, less access and less delivery of emergency care to patients.”
He said underfunding capital projects threatens infrastructure development, equipment availability and emergency response capacity, particularly in maternal health and chronic disease management.
The immediate past vice chairman of the Ogun State chapter of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Dr. Olumide Obube, called the situation a “national embarrassment.”
“This represents not merely an administrative shortfall but a profound national embarrassment with far-reaching implications for Nigeria’s health system,” Obube said. “A capital release of approximately 0.02% of the approved allocation effectively amounts to non-implementation.”
Obube said capital spending is essential for infrastructure development, laboratory expansion, oxygen plants, digital health systems and tertiary hospital upgrades.
Nigeria’s maternal mortality rate is estimated at more than 500 deaths per 100,000 live births, while neonatal mortality exceeds 35 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to health experts. They say the continued underfunding of capital projects could further weaken an already strained system marked by workforce shortages and ongoing migration of health professionals.
Poor infrastructure and limited equipment, experts added, have contributed to frustration among health workers and accelerated emigration, further reducing service capacity.
Obube urged the government to treat the funding gap as a turning point for reform.
“The health of Nigerians is not expendable,” he said. “It is foundational to national development.”
