Federal Government has inaugurated a Joint Task Team of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to strengthen preventive controls and protect investments in Nigeria’s health sector.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, said the initiative reflects a shift from responding to wrongdoing after it occurs to identifying vulnerabilities early, closing loopholes and strengthening systems before public resources are lost.
“Every naira invested in our health system carries an obligation: to reach the facility, the health worker, and the Nigerian whose life depends on it. 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.
Prof. Pate described the Joint Task Team as “an instrument for institutional change”, explaining that its mandate is centred on identifying institutional vulnerabilities, strengthening preventive controls and improving oversight across the health sector.
Under BHCPF 2.0, the Federal Government has deployed 774 Performance and Financial Management Officers, one to every Local Government Area, to independently verify the receipt and utilisation of funds. Verified National Identification Numbers are also being used to strengthen beneficiary authentication and reduce duplication, while digitalisation is improving transparency and traceability.
The Task Team builds on the Federal Government’s Red Letter of October 2025, which called on communities and ward health committees to track whether BHCPF funds reach their facilities. The Joint Task Team now adds structured institutional oversight to that citizen vigilance.
The Joint Task Team will conduct assessments following each quarterly disbursement of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, with the BHCPF Secretariat serving as its Secretariat. The Team is co-chaired by the Director of Hospital Services, representing the Ministry, and a Director of the ICPC, with membership drawn from relevant supervising offices and departments. The Memorandum of Understanding runs for two years, subject to renewal.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Daju Kachollom S. mni, said protecting health-sector resources is fundamental to the Ministry’s mandate to save lives, reduce the physical and financial pain of ill-health, and produce health for all Nigerians. “This is a Team designed to be embedded in how the Ministry already works, not to sit outside it,” she said.
The Chairman of the ICPC, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, represented by the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Mr. Clifford Oparaodu, said the partnership strengthens preventive oversight of health-sector resources, particularly the BHCPF. “Corruption in the health sector is not measured only in financial losses or accounting irregularities. The losses are measured in maternal and infant mortality rates, rates of immunisation, mortality from preventable diseases, easy and affordable access to medical care at all levels,” he said.
The Coordinating Minister, alongside the Chairman of the ICPC, formally inaugurated the Joint Task Team.
The Federal Government said it remains committed to ensuring that every investment in health is protected, properly utilised and translated into better health outcomes for Nigerians.