The House of Representatives has demanded adequate funding
for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to strengthen preparedness
and response capacity against Ebola and other epidemics.
This followed the resolution and adoption of a motion
sponsored by Amobi Ogah, lawmaker representing Isuikwuato/Umunneochi federal
constituency of Abia state, on Tuesday.
The lawmaker had warned that Nigeria’s disease surveillance
and emergency response systems were under severe strain due to prolonged
funding shortfalls at the NCDC.
The motion, titled ‘Seeking the federal government to
immediately provide adequate funding requirements to the Nigeria Centre for
Disease Control (NCDC) to strengthen Nigeria’s preparedness and response
capacity for Ebola and other epidemic-prone diseases’, was adopted by the house
without debate.
Speaking on the motion, Ogah reminded lawmakers that the
NCDC is Nigeria’s national public health institute, charged with responding to
infectious disease outbreaks and public health emergencies.
He added that the agency is unable to effectively prepare
for potential outbreaks due to severe financial constraints.
The lawmaker noted that the NCDC received no operational
funding in 2025 and that no capital releases had been made in its approved 2026
budget allocation.
He explained that the overhead releases to the agency have
been irregular and grossly inadequate.
“How then can the preparedness of the centre for emergencies
be guaranteed?” Ogah asked.
“If urgent and appropriate funding for the centre is not
immediately met, the strength and capacity of the NCDC to adequately respond to
the resurfacing Ebola threat and other epidemic-prone diseases cannot be
assured, which is extremely disastrous to Nigeria as a nation.”
The legislator warned that the funding gap has significantly
weakened Nigeria’s critical health security obligations.
He stated that the NCDC is facing several challenges which
include unpaid contractors and service providers, stalled strategic projects,
inadequate laboratory supplies, weak biosafety infrastructure, insufficient
intensive care support systems and limited resources for emergency simulation
exercises and preparedness drills.
Ogah shared that vendors supplying critical goods and
services to the agency have not been paid for more than a year, which have
stalled the completion of zonal laboratories, treatment centres and isolation
facilities across the country.
The lawmaker added that laboratory reagents, consumables and
other materials essential for outbreak screening and diagnosis were nearly
exhausted.
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