The Federal Government has approved N40.7 billion for healthcare delivery under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, disclosed the funding approval on Wednesday at the 16th BHCPF Ministerial Oversight Committee (MOC) meeting in Abuja.
The announcement comes alongside plans to expand the programme to an additional 5,000 primary healthcare facilities and extend health insurance coverage to about 90,000 prisoners.
FG reports higher healthcare fund disbursements
Pate said the N40.7 billion represents the Federal Government’s contribution from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).
- “N40.7 billion will go to all the states of the federation. That’s the Federal Government’s contribution with the increasing revenues that are coming, and that’s from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF),” he said.
- He added that monthly disbursements into the fund had almost doubled, alongside the amounts received by states, attributing the increase to rising government revenue following the macro-fiscal reforms of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Pate stressed that federal funding alone would not be sufficient to address the country’s healthcare needs, urging state and local governments to increase their contributions.
He said state governments should complement federal allocations with additional funding, particularly because many healthcare challenges require action at the subnational level.
FG expands primary healthcare coverage
Pate said the committee had deliberated on plans to extend the fund’s coverage to an additional 5,000 primary healthcare facilities, building on the existing network of more than 8,000 facilities.
He said the selection would consider disease burden, population distribution, distance to healthcare facilities and equity to ensure that communities with greater healthcare needs were prioritised.
The minister also said savings made through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) would support the recruitment of frontline health workers, who would be transitioned over the next three years.
He added that states would be expected to assume increasing responsibility for employing the workers and recruiting additional personnel.
FG approves health insurance coverage for prisoners
Also speaking at the meeting, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, said the committee had approved the inclusion of prisoners in Nigeria under the Vulnerable Group Health Insurance Fund.
Salako said approximately 90,000 prisoners would be covered under the arrangement.
- “Today we took a decision that prisoners in Nigeria will now be covered under the vulnerable health insurance fund,” he said.
- He added that the government was prioritising increased healthcare funding and more efficient use of available resources to maximise the impact on service delivery.
- Salako also said the committee discussed co-procurement arrangements aimed at reducing the prices of health commodities supplied to primary healthcare facilities.
Pate also called for improved state-level funding to strengthen responses to disease outbreaks, including Lassa fever, cholera and diphtheria.
He said adequate funding would help states respond more effectively to outbreaks, while urging parents and caregivers to ensure that children received routine vaccinations against diphtheria.
Previous BHCPF funding
The latest approval comes after previous government funding for primary healthcare under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
Nairametrics reported in March 2026 that the Federal Government approved N32 billion for primary healthcare facilities under the fund, as part of efforts to improve access to essential health services.
Earlier, in October 2025, the government released N32.9 billion through the fund to primary healthcare facilities across Nigeria, marking its third round of disbursements that year.