The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has defended the controversial N10bn emergency intervention fund approved by President Bola Tinubu, saying it was intended to strengthen the country’s response to multiple disease outbreaks, not Ebola alone.
NCDC Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, said the money was released directly to the agency to improve disease prevention, surveillance, early detection and emergency response.
He listed Lassa fever, cholera, cerebrospinal meningitis, diphtheria, measles, monkeypox and antimicrobial resistance among the health threats covered by the intervention.
Idris explained that the funding was approved in June 2026 following the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, he stressed that the request was designed to address Nigeria’s wider health security needs and was not intended for the Presidential Task Force on Ebola.
He described the N10bn as inadequate, noting that implementing Nigeria’s 2025-2029 National Action Plan for Health Security would require about N522bn over five years.
According to him, the plan needs an average of N104.4bn annually, making the emergency intervention worth only about two per cent of the yearly requirement.
Idris disclosed that the NCDC received N4bn in 2024, N7bn in 2025, alongside a separate N5bn intervention, while the 2026 budget provides N22bn.
On Ebola, he confirmed that Nigeria recorded an imported case of the Bundibugyo strain, with laboratory confirmation obtained on October 20, within 24 hours of receiving the alert in Abuja.
He, however, said there was no active case in the country as of the time of his statement, adding that identified contacts were under daily surveillance for the mandatory 21-day period.
The NCDC chief also ruled out the need to postpone elections, restrict travel or impose a blanket ban on public gatherings.
He said the agency had issued guidelines for organisers of large events to ensure compliance with infection prevention and control measures.
Idris urged Nigerians to avoid spreading unverified information, warning that misinformation and the politicisation of disease outbreaks could undermine public health interventions.