Gombe among health budget champions with over 80% implementation

From Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe

Gombe State has been ranked among the top-performing states in Nigeria with over 80 per cent health budget implementation for the 2024 fiscal year, according to the BudgIT 2025 State of States Report released on Tuesday in Abuja.

The report by BudgIT, a leading civic tech organisation renowned for promoting fiscal transparency and accountability, listed Gombe alongside Yobe, Ekiti, Lagos, Edo, Delta, and Bauchi States as the only seven states that demonstrated effective and result-oriented health financing within the period under review.

According to the report, Nigerian states collectively allocated N1.32 trillion to health in 2024 but spent only N816.64 billion, representing a 61.9 per cent national average. However, Gombe and the other six states stood out by implementing over 80 per cent of their approved health budgets, signalling efficiency, fiscal discipline, and a commitment to human development.

Yobe State emerged as the top performer with a 98.2 per cent implementation rate, while Gombe was ranked closely behind, a feat attributed to Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya’s administration’s continuous investment in health infrastructure, reforms, and accountability frameworks.

Under Governor Yahaya’s leadership, Gombe has recorded strides in the sector, including the revitalisation of primary healthcare centres across all 114 wards, the upgrading of general hospitals, and the operationalisation of the Gombe State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (GoHealth). The recent launch of the State Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance Scheme (SEMSAS) further underscores the administration’s commitment to universal and accessible healthcare.

BudgIT’s Global Director, Oluseun Onigbinde, praised Gombe and other high-performing states for efficiently deploying public resources, stressing that the report serves as “a mirror reflecting the choices our state governments make, the paths they follow and the opportunities they seize or leave behind”.

He urged states to sustain fiscal transparency and ensure budgeted funds translate into measurable welfare gains, especially in health and education.

Also speaking, Uche Amaonwu, Country Director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, commended BudgIT’s decade-long commitment to promoting fiscal responsibility and lauded states like Gombe for aligning their budgets with human capital priorities.

“Fiscal health is human health and governance, when transparent and accountable, remains the bridge that connects both,” Amaonwu said.