House of Representatives is set to investigate the sum of 4.6 billion US dollars received from development partners as intervention funds for Nigeria’s response to HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria.
This followed a resolution adopted by the lawmakers after a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Mr. Philip Agbese from Benue State during plenary.
Mr. Agbese explained that the funds under investigation include 1.8 billion US dollars from the Global Fund and 2.8 billion US dollars from USAID, all received between 2021 and 2025.
He further noted that Nigeria also received over 6 billion US dollars in health assistance from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) within the same period, aimed at combating HIV/AIDS and strengthening health and community systems.
The lawmaker expressed concern that despite these huge investments, Nigeria continues to bear a heavy burden of public health threats, ranking third globally in HIV-related deaths and recording the highest number of HIV cases in West and Central Africa.
Mover of the motion maintained that if something drastic is not done to reevaluate the implementation of the grants, Nigeria may continue to suffer huge burdens and lose it’s population to the diseases, thereby failing in the elimination of HIV, TB, and Malaria by year 2030.
Mr Philip however, called on the house to mandate the Coordinating Minister of Heath and Social Welfare to provide full details of implementation plan and approvals granted by the National Assembly for the utilisation and expenditure of the grants in question in the interest of accountability.
COV/TSIBIRI
