The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has clarified that the Federal Government’s N10 billion emergency intervention fund, approved in June 2026 amid the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was intended to strengthen Nigeria’s preparedness against multiple public health threats, not Ebola alone.
The agency’s Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, stated this on Monday while responding to public concerns over the allocation, which came under scrutiny following Nigeria’s confirmation of an imported Ebola case in October.
Idris explained that the funding was requested to strengthen disease prevention, preparedness, early detection, rapid response and recovery across a range of public health threats.
These include Ebola, Lassa fever, cholera, cerebrospinal meningitis, diphtheria, measles, mpox and antimicrobial resistance.
He clarified that the N10 billion was released directly to the NCDC and not the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Ebola, chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.
“Was the money released to the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on EVD, chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President? No.
“The PTF was established primarily to coordinate the national response.
“The N10 billion in question was released to NCDC to address the broader health security needs outlined above,” he said.
The NCDC chief expressed concern over what he described as attempts by some political actors to politicise public health issues, warning that misinformation could undermine public confidence during health emergencies.
He urged politicians and public commentators to avoid spreading misleading information, stressing that health security was a matter of national security.
Idris also argued that the N10 billion intervention fund was inadequate compared with the resources required to protect the country against disease outbreaks.
According to him, Nigeria needs an estimated N104.4 billion annually to implement its National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS) 2.0, a five-year programme covering 2025 to 2029, with a total estimated cost of N522 billion.
He said the N10 billion intervention represented only about two per cent of the plan’s average annual implementation cost.
“The estimated cost of implementing NAPHS 2.0 alone is approximately N522 billion over five years. This translates to an average of about N104.4 billion annually.
“Although not all NAPHS activities are funded through NCDC, this figure illustrates the scale of investment required to protect Nigerians against public health threats,” he said.
Idris added that the allocation should not be considered excessive without taking into account the country’s broader health security requirements and the range of activities the fund was intended to support.
Providing details of the agency’s funding, he said its budgetary allocation increased from N4 billion in 2024 to N7 billion in 2025, while the 2026 Appropriation provides N22 billion.
He further disclosed that the Federal Government approved a separate N5 billion intervention fund in 2025 before President Bola Tinubu authorised the additional N10 billion in June 2026 as the Ebola outbreak in the DRC escalated into a global emergency.
Despite the increased allocations, Idris said Nigeria still faced a substantial funding gap in epidemic preparedness.
Citing estimates by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, he said countries require between $1 and $2 per person annually to achieve an acceptable level of epidemic preparedness.
For Nigeria’s estimated population of 240 million, he said this would translate to between $240 million and $480 million annually.
“Sustained investment from government, States and partners will close that gap,” he said.
The NCDC Director-General called for transparency and accountability in the management of public health resources, emphasising the need for sustained investment to prevent disease outbreaks from escalating into emergencies.
He warned that inadequate preparedness could lead to loss of livelihoods, overburdened health facilities and greater economic costs.
Idris maintained that the central issue should not be whether Nigeria could afford to invest adequately in health security, but whether the country could afford the human, social and economic consequences of failing to do so.
Nigeria confirmed its first imported case of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola on 20 October 2026, after a 42-year-old woman who had travelled from Uganda tested positive in Abuja.
Following the confirmation, health authorities activated contact tracing, surveillance, quarantine and monitoring measures.
The index patient, who was reported to be clinically improved, stable, and conscious, was evacuated to Switzerland on October 26 alongside her husband.
The NCDC identified 62 contacts, whose monitoring was expected to continue until 13 November 2026.
