Abuja: The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has entered a multi-year pact with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission. The agreement is designed to strengthen oversight in the health sector.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the pact aims to monitor, track, and audit expenditures tied to the nationwide overhaul of health infrastructure projects, ensuring transparency, accountability, and better value for public investments. This initiative spans all Local Government Areas and seeks to enhance transparency, guarantee value for money, and ensure proper delivery of health projects critical to improving Nigeria’s primary healthcare system across various communities.
Announcing the development via a telecast on his X handle on Sunday, Coordinating Minister Prof. Muhammad Pate stated that the move aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and formed part of efforts to rebuild public trust. He emphasized that the initiative was also intended to deepen account
ability and reverse longstanding governance deficits across ministries, departments, and agencies connected to the health sector.
Prof. Pate highlighted the necessity for public administrators at all levels to embrace transparency in managing public resources to overcome Nigeria’s development challenges. He noted that the ministry had begun institutionalizing preventive and corrective accountability mechanisms across its agencies, focusing on surveillance of health parastatals and fund pathways under the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund.
Under the pact, the ICPC will report on the status of projects identified by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency for certification and provide real-time monitoring of primary healthcare revitalization projects. It will also introduce a new certification process for anti-corruption training and capacity-building initiatives targeting health sector personnel nationwide.
Pate further stated that state and local governments would be integrated into strengthened
accountability processes to ensure unified anti-corruption standards nationwide. The ministry is complementing these measures with a broader anti-corruption strategy, including deploying hundreds of Performance and Financial Management Officers across all local government areas to assess rehabilitation efforts in primary health centers.
The National Health Fellows, recruited from each local government, will work alongside Performance and Financial Management Officers to sustain new accountability procedures and support the ministry’s ongoing reforms. Strengthening these systems, Pate said, would improve health outcomes, boost donor confidence, and unlock greater multilateral support for key health interventions across the country. He described the reforms as part of a renewed national commitment to integrity, trust, and collective progress.