The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has stated that the N10 billion emergency intervention fund approved by President Bola Tinubu is insufficient to tackle Ebola and other epidemic-prone diseases in the country. According to the agency, Nigeria requires an estimated N104.4 billion annually to adequately implement its National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS 2.0), which covers 2025 to 2029.
The NCDC Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this in a statement, explaining that the N10 billion intervention fund was intended to strengthen the country’s preparedness and response to multiple public health threats, not Ebola Virus Disease alone. The plan, developed following the expiration of the first National Action Plan for Health Security, had an estimated implementation cost of N522 billion over five years.
Dr Idris said the N10 billion allocation represented approximately two per cent of the average annual cost of implementing the plan, stressing that it should not be considered excessive given the scale of Nigeria’s health security requirements. The funding was meant to strengthen prevention, preparedness, early detection, rapid response and resilient recovery from diseases of public health importance.
These include Lassa fever, cholera, cerebrospinal meningitis, diphtheria, measles, Mpox and antimicrobial resistance, in addition to Ebola. The NCDC boss confirmed that the fund was released directly to the agency and not the Presidential Task Force on Ebola, chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President.
President Tinubu had steadily increased funding for the agency, with its allocation rising from N4 billion in 2024 to N7 billion in 2025. He added that a N5 billion intervention fund followed in 2025, while the 2026 Appropriation provided N22 billion. According to him, the President approved an additional N10 billion emergency intervention fund in June 2026, following the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The NCDC Director-General also cited estimates by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, which indicated that countries required between $1 and $2 per person annually to achieve acceptable epidemic preparedness. For Nigeria’s estimated 240 million population, Idris said this translated to between $240 million and $480 million annually, underscoring the need for sustained funding from federal and state governments, as well as development partners.
On the Ebola situation, Idris said Nigeria had no active case following the confirmation of an imported Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease case on October 20. He, however, warned that the country was not yet out of the woods, as contact monitoring would continue until the last identified contact completed the 21-day observation period without a new case.
Key points
- The N10 billion fund allocated by President Bola Tinubu is only about 2% of the annual cost of implementing Nigeria's National Action Plan for Health Security.
- Nigeria requires an estimated N104.4 billion annually to adequately implement its National Action Plan for Health Security.
- The NCDC has urged Nigerians to avoid misinformation and politicisation of public health emergencies, insisting that health security is a matter of national security.
