The House of Representatives Committee on Infectious Diseases on Monday launched a high-stakes investigative hearing into the utilization of over $1.8 billion from the Global Fund and $2.8 billion from USAID disbursed to Nigeria between 2021 and 2025 for combating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and bolstering health systems.
Committee Chairman, Hon. Amobi Godwin Ogah, declared that Nigeria would no longer tolerate being a “mere spectator” in managing donor funds.
“Any grant given without us controlling it is unacceptable. If they won’t give it on our terms, let them keep their money,” he asserted.
The probe, mandated by the House on October 21, 2025, aims to uncover how the massive inflows comprising 90% of Nigeria’s intervention funding were spent amid persistent disease burdens.
Ogah warned of “no reprieve in sight” for Nigerians ravaged by these illnesses despite the inflows.He directed the Ministry of Health and the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) to ensure all principal recipients and implementing partners submit detailed implementation plans for National Assembly approval before funds are released.
“The era of spending Nigeria’s money without oversight is over,” he stressed.Ogah revealed plans to amend the NACA Establishment Bill, transforming the agency into the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (NACATAM) with a broader, multi-sectoral mandate.
In a bombshell disclosure, he flagged concerns that some donor funds may have been diverted to finance terrorism, vowing collaboration with the EFCC and ICPC to trace every kobo.
The committee also criticized implementing partners for lacking verifiable offices and warned of intensified parliamentary scrutiny ahead of the Global Fund’s 8th replenishment this month.Health Minister Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate backed the probe, urging a phased exit from donor dependency.
“After two decades of support, Nigeria must fund its own health priorities,” he said, noting domestic spending remains below the 15% Abuja Declaration target.
Declaring the hearing open, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas (represented by Hon. Ibrahim Isiaka) pledged an evidence-based report to strengthen transparency and governance.
Ogah insisted the exercise was not a witch-hunt but a democratic imperative to ensure “no Nigerian child dies before age five” from preventable diseases and to achieve elimination by 2030.
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