• Ex-VP raises concerns over medical records, pathogen samples
•Urges Tinubu to follow President Mahama’s example
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, yesterday challenged the federal government to publish the full text of Nigeria’s recent $5 billion health agreement with the United States.
This, he emphasised, followed Ghana’s rejection of a similar US health compact over concerns about medical records, pathogen information, funding obligations and the inspection of imported medicines.
President John Mahama disclosed that Ghana rejected the proposed compact after its Ministry of Health reviewed the document and flagged provisions relating to health data, counterpart funding and the regulatory authority of the country’s Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).
Reacting in a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the disclosure raises questions about whether similar provisions were contained in the agreement signed by Nigeria.
“At this point, Nigerians do not know whether the provisions Ghana rejected are in the agreement Tinubu signed,” Atiku said. “That is precisely why the government must publish the full text. Nigerians should not have to guess what has been agreed in their name,” he added.
Nigeria signed a five-year health Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States on December 19, 2025. According to the Federal Ministry of Health, the agreement covers disease surveillance, health data systems and procedures involving pathogen samples.
The United States is expected to provide nearly $2 billion in grants, while Nigeria has made health spending commitments projected to mobilise nearly $3 billion over five years, Atiku said.
Atiku argued that the commitments should be considered against the country’s health challenges, citing estimates that put Nigeria’s maternal deaths at 75,000 in 2023.
“Every one of those deaths represents a woman whose family expected her to come home,” he said. “This crisis did not begin under Tinubu, but he has had more than three years to show Nigerians how his government is making childbirth safer. Where are the results?,” Atiku asked.
Atiku also questioned the government’s ability to meet its domestic funding commitments, citing remarks by the Minister of Health, Ali Pate, during a budget defence that only N36 million had been released from the N218 billion appropriated for capital projects and programmes at the ministry’s headquarters in 2025.
“A government that cannot release funds for approved health projects must explain how it intends to honour a multibillion-dollar commitment,” he said. “A signed partnership cannot staff a maternity ward, supply a hospital or save a woman in labour. Nigerians need to see the funding and the care,” he stressed.
The former vice president called for the publication of the complete agreement, including related protocols, annexes, data-sharing arrangements, specimen-sharing agreements and financial undertakings.
“Can Nigerians’ medical information or pathogen samples leave the country? Who may access them? What safeguards protect patients? Does NAFDAC retain full authority to inspect medicines and medical products? What exactly have the federal government and the states promised to spend? Tinubu should put the documents before Nigerians and answer these questions plainly,” he said.
Mahama had said Ghana rejected the proposed US compact after its cabinet flagged provisions requiring the country to provide its pathogen profile and medical records, commit counterpart funding and relinquish inspection powers over medicines and medical products brought into the country under the programme.
Atiku said Nigeria welcomed international cooperation capable of improving healthcare but insisted that the government should be accountable for the terms of its agreements and the results they deliver.
He added that the same disclosure should apply to the administration’s other international commitments, including its expanding partnership with France.
“Ghana examined the proposal before it and said no. Nigeria has already signed. Tinubu must now tell Nigerians exactly what he said yes to. Nigeria’s sovereignty is not classified information,” he said.