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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Federal Government has approved the disbursement of the N32.9bn Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) funds to Primary Health Care (PHCs) for the quarter four of 2025.
This was announced at the 13th expanded Ministerial Oversight Committee (MOC) meeting of the BHCPF in Abuja yesterday.
The meeting was convened to review progress on the implementation of previous MOC resolutions, receive updates from the BHCPF gateways and other aligned health programmes, and strengthen coordination, accountability, and implementation under the BHCPF 2.0 framework.
The MOC chaired by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, unanimously agreed that the disbursement of the funds should commence in January 2026 in line with the BHCPF 2.0 Guideline, to support the delivery of essential primary healthcare services nationwide.
Meanwhile, the MOC membership was expanded at the meeting to accommodate the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) as a member of the MOC. It also called for the strengthening of local government participation and ownership in BHCPF implementation.
The MOC also advocated the strengthening of the civil society engagement stressing that the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have remained active members of the MOC.
It was also announced that the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare had approved the establishment of a Citizens’ Response Centre (CRC) to strengthen accountability, transparency, and citizen engagement in the health sector
It noted that the CRC would provide Nigerians with a dedicated platform to make enquiries, lodge complaints, and share feedback on health services, including BHCPF-supported interventions.
The MOC said the approval, communicated in the context of the 13th MOC meeting, aligns with on-going health sector reforms and reinforces government’s commitment to demand-side accountability and people-centred healthcare delivery.
The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, however, reaffirmed the commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s health system, expanding equitable access to quality and affordable healthcare, and advancing Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through sustained reforms, accountability mechanisms, and partnership-driven implementation of the BHCPF.
