Pate, ICPC Move to Block Corruption in Nigeria’s Health Sector

"The initiative is aimed at identifying institutional weaknesses, closing loopholes and preventing the diversion or misuse of public funds before such practices undermine healthcare delivery." Pate

The Federal Government has stepped up its fight against corruption in the health sector with the inauguration of a Joint Task Team by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The initiative, according to the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, is aimed at identifying institutional weaknesses, closing loopholes and preventing the diversion or misuse of public funds before such practices undermine healthcare delivery.

Speaking at the inauguration of the team in Abuja on Monday, Pate declared that every naira invested in the health sector must deliver measurable value to Nigerians, warning that corruption in healthcare could have life-threatening consequences.

“When those resources are diverted, the cost is not abstract. It is a medicine that never arrives, equipment that is unavailable when needed, or a service that falls short. In this sector, corruption can cost lives,” he said.

Pate described the Joint Task Team as an “instrument for institutional change”, stressing that it would focus on prevention, institutional strengthening and improved oversight rather than merely responding to corruption after it had occurred.

He said the government was already strengthening accountability in health financing through measures under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) 2.0, including the deployment of 774 Performance and Financial Management Officers—one to each Local Government Area—to independently verify the receipt and utilisation of funds.

The minister added that the government was deploying verified National Identification Numbers to authenticate beneficiaries and reduce duplication, while digitalising processes to improve transparency and traceability from allocation to utilisation.

According to him, the accountability measures would cover all aspects of the health sector, including financing, procurement, infrastructure, medicines and service delivery.

Pate said the partnership with the ICPC aligned with the first pillar of the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, which focuses on effective governance, regulation, standards and accountability.

“Investment without integrity cannot deliver sustainable results,” he said, charging members of the task team to identify vulnerabilities, recommend practical safeguards and ensure their work produces reforms that outlive the team.

Representing the ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, the Commission’s Executive Secretary, Mr Clifford Oparaodu, said the task team gave practical expression to the Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions.

He said the collaboration would strengthen preventive oversight in the management of health-sector resources, particularly the BHCPF, insisting that funds allocated to primary healthcare must reach the intended facilities and beneficiaries and be utilised transparently and in accordance with due process.

Oparaodu said prevention remained one of the ICPC’s most important mandates because identifying and eliminating weaknesses in government processes was a cheaper, less intrusive and more sustainable way of combating corruption.

He warned that the consequences of corruption in the health sector went beyond financial losses and accounting irregularities, as they could be reflected in maternal and infant mortality, poor immunisation coverage, preventable deaths and limited access to affordable healthcare.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Daju Kachollom S., said effective stewardship of health resources was fundamental to achieving better health outcomes.

She disclosed that the MoU would run for two years, subject to renewal, while the Joint Task Team would be co-chaired by the Director of Hospital Services and a director of the ICPC.

Kachollom said the team would be embedded within existing ministry structures, with its secretariat at the BHCPF Secretariat, and would conduct assessments after each quarterly disbursement of the fund.

The co-chairmen of the team, Dr Abisola Adegoke, Director of Hospital Services, and Mr Shehu Gambo, Assistant Director, Financial Investigation, ICPC, pledged to discharge their responsibilities diligently and transparently.

The Joint Task Team was subsequently formally inaugurated by Pate and the ICPC Chairman’s representative.