The Nigerian government has welcome the re-commencement of direct Health Care System funding through the National Health Care Development Agency, (NPHCDA) by GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance.
Gavi had stopped funding programmes in Nigeria through the NPHCDA following unsatisfactory findings from the GAVI Programme audit in 2015.
The return of GAVI, the vaccine alliance, will allow Nigeria direct access to GAVI funds, enabling it to freely make requests or place demands on issues of primary health care, particularly vaccines and other related services.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF) Mr Boss Mustapha who made this known in Abuja, the nation’s capital said the Nigerian government have recognised the importance of the Primary Health Care system towards the attainment of Universal Health Coverage.
To this end, Mr Mustapha said significant investments have been made to ensure they are equipped to provide continuous and high-quality healthcare services.
The SGF expressed satisfaction that the return of direct GAVI programme funding recognised the symbolic and unwavering commitment of the Nigerian government to combat corruption thereby providing a stable framework for governance.
He said; “Today therefore marks a momentous occasion as we gather here to celebrate the official re-commencement of direct Gavi programme funding through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA). This stands as proof of the accomplishments resulting in our combined endeavours to establish accountability and transparency, thereby instilling trust in our systems.”
Mr Mustapha said the central pillar of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has been the fight against corruption and this Government has shown an unyielding resolve to tackle corruption in all sectors of society, implementing measures to recover stolen funds and assets, strengthen anti-corruption institutions, and enforce accountability among public officials.
“Specifically, this administration has embarked on governance reforms aimed at improving efficiency, transparency, and accountability in the public sector. Measures such as the Treasury Single Account (TSA), Whistle-blower Policy, and Public Service Reforms seek to enhance financial management, plug revenue leakages, and promote good governance, ”the SGF said.
The Minister of Health Dr Osagie Ehanire said the recommencement of direct funding is a testimony to the renewed confidence in the country’s financial management system especially on the part of the current NPHCDA management.
Dr Ehanire said; “the improved financial management system in NPHCDA aligns with the current government’s zero tolerance for financial mismanagement practices and anti-corruption stance. As the supervising Minister, therefore, I am proud of NPHCDA’s achievement.”
He noted that the direct programme funding would lead to major advantages of streamlining the approval process to save time, cost savings and system strengthening in financial management.
The Minister said; “However, it is expected that GAVI and our other partners will continue to provide technical support to enable us to maximise the gains of these process transitions.”
He extended the Nigerian Government’s appreciation to GAVI for the renewed confidence in the leadership of Nigeria’s health sector.
Dr Ehanire assured GAVI that Nigeria would continue to preserve confidence through the accountability policies put in place to enable greater transparency and closer grant monitoring and management.
He said; “The establishment of a Grant Compliance Coordinating Office, GCCO, in NPHCDA is a step in the right direction. The GCCO will have the responsibility of ensuring judicious utilisation of all funds from the government and partners provided for programmes in NPHCDA.”
“Our sincere gratitude also goes to all our partners, donors and other stakeholders for their unwavering support towards the attainment of universal health coverage with no one left behind and also improving quality of care,” he added.
The Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib said at the inception of this administration, in 2017, they set sail with four strategic objectives, which he expected would set the Agency firmly on the way to achieving Universal Health Coverage. The strategic objectives were changing the NPHCDA narrative about accountability and transparency in the management of resources, achieving polio eradication; strengthening the routine immunization (RI) system; and revitalisation of PHC in Nigeria.
Dr Shuaib said; “Today’s event is a celebration of the achievement of the first objective. It is worthy of being celebrated because when this administration came in, the agency was at its lowest ebb, as far as accountability and transparency in operations were concerned. We started out having to handle an issue involving misuse of donor funds, which led to the new administration having to compel staff to refund funds that were disbursed for state-level activities, for which there was no acceptable evidence of those activities having been carried out. ”
Dr Shuaib explained that the spectre of misused GAVI funds still hung over the Agency, leading to its stoppage of direct funds disbursement to NPHCDA for programme implementation which Funds had to be disbursed through development partners for activities approved for NPHCDA to implement.
“This hurt the system, and apart from the fact that part of the funds went for payment of Procurement Service Charges (PSC), there were avoidable delays in the approval processes of our development partners for utilization of the funds. Some of the approval bottlenecks were due to a misalignment of the Nigerian government and implementing partners’ priorities, which did not bode well for the country’s goals and aspirations,” Dr Shuaib explained.
In ensuring every Naira of the misused funds was paid back, Dr Shuaib said that his administration has set out to consciously improve the image of the agency through the establishment of fit-for-purpose structures aimed at checkmating the then prevalent forces of impunity and total lack of accountability to the structures to established the Grant Coordination and Compliance Office, (GCCO). The office has the responsibility of ensuring that grants and other funding support are being appropriately utilised, in line with the objectives of their infusion into the system.
On behalf of GAVI, the Senior Country Manager, GAVI, Jessica Crawford they are honoured to celebrate the achievement and milestone with Nigeria government through NPHCDA, through partnership and with many stakeholders under the leadership of the Executive Director NPHCDA and thank him for the hard work so far.
“We are very excited about the milestone that we’re celebrating here today, and we look forward to continuing the strong collaboration and partnership with you as we continue to ensure strong financial management capacity as Gavi funds are returned to government systems,” she said.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
