By David Oluwatosin
The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Dr Jide Idris, has clarified that the controversial N10bn emergency intervention fund approved by President Bola Tinubu was not exclusively meant to tackle Ebola Virus Disease but to strengthen Nigeria’s preparedness against multiple epidemic-prone diseases.
Idris said the funding was designed to improve disease prevention, preparedness, early detection and rapid response to public health emergencies, including Lassa fever, cholera, cerebrospinal meningitis, diphtheria, measles, monkeypox and antimicrobial resistance.
The NCDC chief made the clarification amid growing public debate over the allocation, explaining that the money was released directly to the agency and not to the Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease, contrary to some reports and public perceptions.
He, however, did not disclose when the N10bn was eventually released, despite telling journalists during a press conference on Sunday, October 25, 2026, that the fund had not been released to the agency at the time.
Idris described the intervention as inadequate in view of Nigeria’s growing health security requirements, disclosing that the implementation of the country’s National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS), covering 2025 to 2029, would require approximately N522bn over five years.
According to him, the plan translates to an average annual funding requirement of N104.4bn, meaning the N10bn emergency intervention represents only about two per cent of the average yearly cost.
He stressed that Nigeria, with a population exceeding 240 million, needed sustained investments from the Federal Government, state governments and development partners to adequately protect citizens against epidemic threats.
Providing a breakdown of government funding for health security, the NCDC director-general said the agency’s allocation increased from N4bn in 2024 to N7bn in 2025, alongside an additional N5bn intervention fund released that year.
He added that the 2026 Appropriation provided N22bn for the agency, while President Tinubu approved the additional N10bn emergency intervention funding in June 2026 following the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which heightened global concerns about the spread of the disease.
Idris maintained that the request for the emergency funding was never restricted to Ebola but covered Nigeria’s broader epidemic preparedness and national health security agenda.
“In June 2026, as the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo became a global emergency, Mr President graciously approved a further N10 billion in emergency intervention funding. That fund was requested for all our epidemic-prone diseases, not Ebola alone, and now strengthens work already underway, as we had mobilised resources from government and partners and kept building,” he said.
He further highlighted the funding gap in Nigeria’s health security system, citing estimates by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board that countries require between $1 and $2 per person annually to achieve an acceptable level of epidemic preparedness.
Based on Nigeria’s estimated population of 240 million, he said the country would require between $240m and $480m annually to adequately prepare for public health emergencies.
“For about 240 million Nigerians, that is US$240 million to US$480 million a year. Sustained investment from government, States and partners will close that gap,” he said.
The NCDC boss attributed the persistent funding challenges partly to the tendency of public investment to favour infrastructure and other tangible projects with immediate visibility, rather than preventive health interventions whose benefits may not be immediately apparent.
He argued that the debate surrounding the N10bn allocation should shift from political controversy to the urgent need for sustainable investment in national health security.
According to him, preventing epidemics, saving lives and avoiding economic disruptions require deliberate financial commitments, warning that the cost of responding to major disease outbreaks could be significantly higher than the cost of prevention.
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On the Ebola situation, Idris disclosed that Nigeria had confirmed its first imported case of Bundibugyo Ebola Virus Disease, with laboratory confirmation conducted on October 20, 2026, within 24 hours of receiving the alert in Abuja.
He, however, assured Nigerians that there was no active case in the country as of the time of his statement, while identified contacts remained under daily surveillance.
He explained that monitoring would continue until the last identified contact completed the mandatory 21-day observation period without developing symptoms or any new case emerging.
Idris also dismissed calls for the postponement of elections, travel restrictions or a blanket ban on mass gatherings, insisting that the prevailing public health situation did not justify such measures.
Instead, he said the NCDC had developed technical guidelines for organisers of mass gatherings, stressing that strict compliance with infection prevention and control measures would allow public events to proceed safely.
The agency urged Nigerians to avoid circulating unverified information, warning that misinformation and the politicisation of public health emergencies could undermine public confidence and weaken the country’s response to disease outbreaks.
Idris reiterated that strengthening epidemic preparedness required sustained funding and coordinated action across all levels of government, adding that Nigeria must invest in prevention and early detection to reduce the human and economic consequences of future health emergencies.
