Only seven of Nigeria’s 36 states implemented more than 80% of their 2024 health budgets, BudgIT said Wednesday, underscoring persistent gaps between budget allocations and actual spending on health care.
The civic-tech group named the states as Yobe, Gombe, Ekiti, Lagos, Edo, Delta and Bauchi, and said Yobe led the group with an implementation rate approaching full budget execution.
The foundation said states collectively budgeted about ₦1.32 trillion for health in 2024 but actually spent ₦816.64 billion. This points to a budget-performance rate of roughly 61.9%. The shortfall, BudgIT warned, limits the ability of subnational governments to expand services or buy equipment.
BudgIT presented the findings at the launch of its 2025 “State of States” report, a decade-long comparative review of subnational fiscal performance that ranks states on revenue generation, debt sustainability and spending priorities. The report highlighted wide variation in per-capita health spending and flagged weak capital investments in primary health care in many states.
The group urged state governments to strengthen budget execution and reorient revenues toward frontline health services, saying better planning, procurement and accountability are needed to turn allocations into clinics, drugs and medical staff. Analysts said low implementation rates risk widening regional health disparities and undermining progress in maternal and child health.
BudgIT’s assessment adds to ongoing debate about fiscal priorities at the state level as officials prepare 2026 budgets and as donors and development partners weigh support for Nigeria’s health system. The report also comes in the wake of the upcoming doctors strike, which is slated to begin on 1st of November, 2025.
