The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has clarified that the Federal Government’s ₦10 billion emergency intervention fund approved in June 2026 was not exclusively for Ebola but to strengthen Nigeria’s preparedness against multiple public health threats.
The agency’s Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this in a statement on Monday amid public concerns over the allocation following Nigeria’s confirmation of an imported Ebola case in October.
Idris explained that the funding was intended to improve disease prevention, preparedness, early detection, rapid response and recovery, covering threats such as Ebola, Lassa fever, cholera, cerebrospinal meningitis, diphtheria, measles, monkeypox and antimicrobial resistance.
He clarified that the ₦10 billion was released directly to the NCDC and not the Presidential Task Force on Ebola, chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.
According to him, the task force was established primarily to coordinate the national Ebola response, while the NCDC received the intervention fund to address broader health security needs.
The NCDC chief criticised the politicisation of the funding, warning that misinformation during public health emergencies could undermine public trust and efforts to contain disease outbreaks.
“Health security is a matter of national security and should not be reduced to partisan contestation,” he said.
₦10bn Represents Two Per Cent Of Annual Requirement
Idris said the intervention fund was relatively small compared with Nigeria’s broader health security funding requirements.
He explained that implementing the National Action Plan for Health Security 2.0, which runs from 2025 to 2029, would cost an estimated ₦522 billion, translating to an average annual requirement of ₦104.4 billion.
According to him, the ₦10 billion intervention represents approximately two per cent of the plan’s average annual implementation cost.
He argued that the allocation should not be considered excessive without taking into account the scale of Nigeria’s health security needs and the range of diseases the funding is expected to address.
NCDC Allocation Rises To ₦22bn
The NCDC director-general disclosed that the agency’s budgetary allocation increased from ₦4 billion in 2024 to ₦7 billion in 2025, while the 2026 Appropriation provides ₦22 billion.
He added that the Federal Government approved a separate ₦5 billion intervention fund in 2025 before President Bola Tinubu authorised an additional ₦10 billion in June 2026 following the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Idris, however, said Nigeria still faced a significant 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 acceptable epidemic preparedness.
For Nigeria’s estimated population of 240 million, he said the requirement translates to between $240 million and $480 million annually.
He called for sustained investment by the Federal Government, state governments and development partners to strengthen the country’s capacity to prevent and respond to disease outbreaks.
Nigeria Monitors Ebola Contacts
Nigeria confirmed its first imported case of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola on October 20, 2026, after a 42-year-old woman who 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, with monitoring scheduled to continue until November 13.
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