Publicise health MoU with US, Atiku tells Tinubu

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

AFRICAN Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has asked President Bola Tinubu to immediately publish the full details of Nigeria’s health Memorandum of Understanding with the United States, following concerns raised by Ghana over a similar proposed compact.

Atiku, in a statement by the Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, said Nigerians deserved to know the exact commitments made by the Federal Government under the agreement and how they affected health data, pathogen samples, regulatory authority and domestic funding obligations.

Nigeria and the United States signed the five-year health cooperation MoU in December 2025 to strengthen disease surveillance, laboratory systems, primary healthcare, health data systems and procedures for pathogen sample collection, transportation, testing, storage and disposal.

Under the agreement, the United States is expected to provide nearly $2 billion in grant funding between April 2026 and December 2030, while Nigeria committed to allocating at least six per cent of executed annual federal and state budgets to health, a commitment projected to mobilise nearly $3 billion over the period.

Atiku said the demand for disclosure had become more urgent following Ghanaian President John Mahama’s explanation that his country rejected a proposed US health compact over provisions relating to medical records, pathogen information, counterpart funding and the inspection of medicines and medical products.

“At this point, Nigerians do not know whether the provisions Ghana rejected are in the agreement Tinubu signed. That is precisely why the government must publish the full text. Nigerians should not have to guess what has been agreed in their name,” Atiku said.

Mahama had said Ghana’s Cabinet rejected its proposed compact after concerns were raised that the country would be required to provide pathogen profiles and medical records, commit counterpart funding and accept medicines and medical products that would not be subject to inspection by Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority.

Atiku said Nigeria’s commitments under its own agreement should also be measured against the condition of the country’s health system and the government’s ability to fund already approved programmes.

He cited the disclosure by Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali Pate, that only N36 million was released from the N218 billion appropriated for capital projects and programmes at the ministry’s headquarters in 2025.

“A government that cannot release funds for approved health projects must explain how it intends to honour a multibillion-dollar commitment,” Atiku said.

“A signed partnership cannot staff a maternity ward, supply a hospital or save a woman in labour. Nigerians need to see the funding and the care.”

The former vice president also raised concerns about maternal mortality and asked the government to demonstrate how its domestic health policies and international partnerships were improving outcomes for Nigerians.

He called on the Federal Government to publish the complete MoU together with all related protocols, annexes, data-sharing arrangements, specimen-sharing provisions and financial undertakings.

“Can Nigerians’ medical information or pathogen samples leave the country? Who may access them? What safeguards protect patients? Does NAFDAC retain full authority to inspect medicines and medical products? What exactly have the Federal Government and the states promised to spend? Tinubu should put the documents before Nigerians and answer these questions plainly,” Atiku said.

He stressed that Nigeria should continue to pursue international health cooperation but insisted that such agreements must be transparent and subject to public scrutiny.

“Nigeria welcomes international cooperation that saves lives, but the government must be accountable for the terms it accepts and the results it delivers,” he said.

Atiku added that the same standard of disclosure should apply to other international agreements entered into by the administration.

“Ghana examined the proposal before it and said no. Nigeria has already signed. Tinubu must now tell Nigerians exactly what he said yes to. Nigeria’s sovereignty is not classified information,” he said.

The Federal Ministry of Health had, while announcing the agreement in December 2025, said the partnership was designed to strengthen health security, disease surveillance, primary healthcare, laboratory systems and domestic health financing, while progressively reducing dependence on external grants.