The N10bn emergency intervention fund approved by President Bola Tinubu is meant to strengthen Nigeria’s preparedness against multiple epidemic-prone diseases, not Ebola Virus Disease alone, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has said.
The NCDC Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, said the funding was designed to support prevention, early detection and rapid response to public health threats, including Lassa fever, cholera, cerebrospinal meningitis, diphtheria, measles, monkeypox and antimicrobial resistance.
Idris, who spoke amid public controversy over the allocation, clarified that the money was released directly to the NCDC and not to the Presidential Task Force on Ebola, contrary to some reports.
He, however, did not specify when the fund was released, despite telling journalists at a press conference on October 25, 2026, that the money had not been disbursed to the agency.
The NCDC boss said the intervention was inadequate to address Nigeria’s growing health security needs, disclosing that the implementation of the National Action Plan for Health Security covering 2025 to 2029 would cost approximately N522bn over five years.
According to him, the plan requires an average of N104.4bn annually, making the N10bn intervention only about two per cent of the yearly funding requirement.
Idris said 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.
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Giving a breakdown of government funding for health security, he said the NCDC’s allocation increased from N4bn in 2024 to N7bn in 2025, followed by a N5bn intervention fund that year.
He added that the 2026 Appropriation provided N22bn for the agency.
Idris disclosed that Tinubu approved the additional N10bn emergency intervention in June 2026 following the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which raised global concerns about the disease.
He maintained that the funding request was never limited to Ebola but was intended to support the country’s broader 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,” he said.
The NCDC director-general cited 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.
For Nigeria’s estimated population of 240 million, he said this translates to between $240m and $480m annually.
Idris argued that the controversy surrounding the intervention should instead draw attention to the persistent underfunding of national health security.
He warned that the financial and human costs of failing to prepare for epidemics could far exceed the cost of prevention.
On the Ebola situation, Idris said Nigeria confirmed its first imported case of Bundibugyo Ebola Virus Disease, with laboratory confirmation made 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 said monitoring would continue until the last identified contact completed the mandatory 21-day surveillance period without developing symptoms or a new case emerging.
Idris also dismissed calls for election postponement, travel restrictions or a blanket ban on mass gatherings, saying the prevailing situation did not warrant such measures.
He said the NCDC had instead developed technical guidelines for organisers of mass gatherings, stressing that compliance with infection prevention and control measures would allow public events to proceed safely.
The NCDC boss urged Nigerians to avoid spreading unverified information, warning that misinformation and politicisation of public health emergencies could undermine public confidence and weaken response efforts.
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