Don’t Let Snakes, Monkeys Swallow $1.07bn Health Budget, Atiku Warns Federal Government

Abuja, Nigeria – Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged the Federal Government to ensure full transparency and accountability in the disbursement of the $1.07 billion allocated to the health sector in the 2025 budget, warning that it must not suffer the fate of past funds allegedly swallowed by animals.

Atiku’s remarks reference bizarre incidents in Nigeria’s financial history, where government officials have blamed snakes, termites, gorillas, and monkeys for missing public funds—claims that were never fully investigated or led to any serious punishment.

“Against the backdrop of dwindling resources, exacerbated by the withdrawal of support in certain areas of our healthcare services, it is important that every kobo budgeted for health is maximally utilized,” Atiku said.

He called on the Federal Government to implement strict public audit and accountability mechanisms to ensure that the health sector appropriation does not go to waste or disappear through corrupt practices.

Atiku also criticised the government for failing to provide a comprehensive breakdown of how the funds will be spent, particularly in the primary healthcare sector.

“While healthcare—especially at the primary level—requires urgent and increased investment to improve access to quality and affordable services for Nigerians, it would be immoral for the government to conceal how these funds will be utilised,” he added.

According to Atiku, “We have read that the Federal Government has a plan to expend a whooping sum of $1.07 billion in the primary health sector. This amount is in addition to the N2.48 trillion, which had earlier been proposed for the health sector in the initial draft of the budget.

“This development gets even more troubling when the government equally announced that the $1.07 billion it is adding to the health sector at the sub-national level was mainly sourced through foreign loans and a fraction of it being provided through an international donor agency.

“In other words, Nigeria is expected to pay these loans back and it is required that the Nigerian people know the details of these loans and that its expenditure must be conveyed in a policy envelop that will explain how it will be spent.

Atiku further explained that the failure of the Federal Government not to commit to a single physical infrastructure in expending the budgetary provision smacks of fraud.

According to the government, “the funds will be directed towards improving governance in healthcare and enhancing primary healthcare services nationwide. This financing will support recruitment, training, and retention of healthcare workers and teachers at the sub-national level…”

“For an administration that has been known to have a deficiency of trust in the administration of its humanitarian services, Nigerians cannot take the risk of accepting a shoddy explanation on a budgetary provision that lacks a mechanism of tracking how the money is to be expended.

“It is difficult for Nigerians to believe this current Federal Government given its proclivity to alternative truths – especially on their claims about investments in the social infrastructure.

“It is worrisome that the Tinubu administration continues to lie to Nigerians on the status of our tertiary hospitals when the sorry state of those hospitals lay bare for Nigerians to see.

“Just recently, the government began a campaign of improvements in the standard of our tertiary health institutions, but Nigerians know that these teaching hospitals often lack basic amenities such as access to a steady supply of electricity.

“Undoubtedly, the Tinubu administration has failed woefully in the health sector because of the poor funding of the sector.

“The major diseases in the primary health sector remain malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS treatment.

“If President Tinubu’s administration meant well in its claim to prioritize the health of Nigerians, his government should explain how it plans to spend this intervention fund in addressing these diseases in the primary health sector.

“On the contrary, what the government announced in its panic response to President Donald Trump’s announcement of the cancellation of American aids for the treatment of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria was a paltry N5 billion.

“If the Tinubu administration fails to provide a comprehensive framework to safeguard its purported huge investment in the health sector nor subject the appropriations to the scrutiny of the National Assembly, it may be safe to conclude that this is another episode of the administration committing a fraud in the name of public interest,” Atiku added.