Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The federal government on Monday inaugurated a Joint Task Team of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission as part of efforts to check financial leakages in the operations of health institutions.
Speaking during the inauguration of members of the Joint Memorandum of Understanding Committee between Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offence Commission (ICPC) in Abuja, Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare Prof. Muhammad Pate said the objective is to protect public investment and strengthen integrity and to build a health system that Nigerians can trust.
“Every naira invested in our health system carries an obligation: to reach the facility, the health worker, and the Nigerian whose life depends on it.
“When those resources are diverted, the cost is not abstract. It is a medicine that never arrives, equipment that is unavailable when needed, or a service that falls short. In this sector, corruption can cost lives.
“Let me be unequivocal: this ministry will not tolerate corruption.
But an effective system does not simply respond to wrongdoing after the fact,” he said.
Pate said the ministry intends to identify vulnerabilities early and close loopholes before resources are lost.
“That is the principle behind today’s inauguration of the Joint Task Team between this Ministry and the ICPC, and it is why prevention sits at the heart of our Memorandum of Understanding: to identify institutional vulnerabilities, strengthen preventive controls, and improve oversight across the health sector,” he said.
Pate said that the committee is not just any other committee but an instrument for institutional change.
According to him, the ministry has already implemented the initiative in areas where significant public resources are being deployed,” adding that under the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) the ministry has deployed 774 Performance and Financial Management Officers, one to every local government area, to independently verify how funds are received and utilised.
“We are using verified National Identification Numbers to authenticate beneficiaries and reduce duplication, backed by tighter standards for fund utilisation and clear consequences for violations.
“We are also digitalising our processes so that resources can be tracked transparently from allocation to use the principle underneath all of this is simple: accountability must not be selective,” he said.
In his remarks, the Chairman of ICPC, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, (SAN), said that corruption in the health sector can be measured in several ways including financial irregularities poor services resulting in maternal and infant mortality rates.
He said: “Corruption in the health sector is not measured only in financial losses or accounting irregularities.
“The losses are measured in maternal and infant mortality rates, rates of immunization, mortality from preventable diseases, easy and affordable access to medical care at all levels.
“For many Nigerians, particularly those in rural and underserved communities, a properly functioning primary healthcare center can determine whether an illness is treated early, whether childbirth is safe and, ultimately, whether a life is saved, “he said.
ICPC boss said the responsibility entrusted to the Joint Task Team is both institutional and humanitarian, adding that members must undertake credible, evidence-based and nationwide assessments of the flow and utilization of BHCPF resources.
While explaining the initiative, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Daju Kachallom, said team will report through the ministry’s established reporting and workflow structures and will carry out its assessments following each quarterly disbursement of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund.
She said the BHCPF Secretariat will also serve as the Secretariat to the Team.
According to her, the Memorandum of Understanding is to run for two years, subject to renewal.