FG, ICPC Launch Joint Task Team To Curb Corruption In Health Sector

The federal government has inaugurated a joint task team with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to strengthen transparency, accountability and preventive measures in the management of health-sector resources, particularly the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, who spoke at the inauguration, said the initiative was aimed at identifying institutional vulnerabilities, closing loopholes and ensuring that public funds allocated to the health sector reached health facilities and Nigerians who need them.

Pate said corruption in the health sector could have life-threatening consequences, noting that diverted resources could mean medicines failing to reach facilities, equipment being unavailable when needed and essential services falling below required standards.

“Let me be unequivocal: this ministry will not tolerate corruption,” the minister said, stressing that the government’s approach would focus not only on responding to wrongdoing but also on preventing it by identifying weaknesses in systems before resources were lost.

He described the joint task team as “an instrument for institutional change,” rather than another committee, adding that its work would support the government’s broader health sector renewal agenda.

According to him, the government had already introduced measures to strengthen accountability under BHCPF 2.0, including the deployment of 774 Performance and Financial Management Officers, one to each local government area, to independently verify how funds were received and utilised.

He added that verified National Identification Numbers were being used to authenticate beneficiaries and reduce duplication, while tighter standards for fund utilisation, consequences for violations and digitalisation of processes were being introduced to enable resources to be tracked from allocation to utilisation.

Pate said accountability must apply across all aspects of the health system, including financing, procurement, infrastructure, medicines and service delivery.

He noted that the ICPC’s preventive and oversight mandate, including its system-study function, state offices and Anti-Corruption and Transparency Units, would be critical to identifying weaknesses and addressing them before they developed into major failures.

The minister said the initiative aligned with Pillar One of the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, which focuses on effective governance, regulation, standards and accountability.

“Renewal is not simply about spending more. It is about making every investment count. Investment without integrity cannot deliver sustainable results,” he said.

Also speaking, the Chairman of ICPC, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, represented by the Executive Secretary of the commission, Mr Clifford Oparaodu, said the establishment of the task team gave practical expression to the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the commission and the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in October 2025.

Aliyu said the MoU provided a framework for collaboration and preventive oversight in the management of health-sector resources, particularly the BHCPF, stressing that funds allocated for primary healthcare must reach intended facilities and beneficiaries and be used transparently and in accordance with due process.

He said preventive anti-corruption measures were “cheaper, less intrusive but more enduring” than responding to corruption after it had occurred.

The ICPC chairman warned that corruption in the health sector should not be viewed merely in terms of financial losses or accounting irregularities, as its consequences could be reflected in maternal and infant mortality, immunisation coverage, deaths from preventable diseases and access to affordable healthcare

“For many Nigerians, particularly those in rural and underserved communities, a properly functioning primary healthcare centre can determine whether an illness is treated early, whether childbirth is safe and, ultimately, whether a life is saved,” he said.

Aliyu charged members of the task team to conduct credible, evidence-based and nationwide assessments of the flow and utilisation of BHCPF resources, verify claims, examine what had actually been delivered, identify vulnerabilities and recommend practical corrective measures.

He said the success of the assignment would ultimately be measured by whether public expenditure translated into visible and measurable improvements in healthcare services.

In her opening remarks, the permanent secretary of the ministry, Daju Kacholom, said effective stewardship of health resources was fundamental to achieving better health outcomes for Nigerians.

She disclosed that the task team would be co-chaired by the Director of Hospital Services, representing the ministry, and a director from the ICPC, with members drawn from relevant offices and departments, including the Director of Human Resource Management and the ministry’s Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit.

Kacholom said the team would conduct assessments after each quarterly disbursement of the BHCPF, while the BHCPF Secretariat would serve as its secretariat.

She added that the MoU would run for two years, subject to renewal, and that the task team was designed to be embedded within the ministry’s existing structures rather than operate outside them.