The Federal Government has announced that it will commence the 2024 audit of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) in mid-July, as part of its commitment to boosting transparency and accountability in primary healthcare financing across the country.
The audit follows the completion of a comprehensive review of the fund’s operational guidelines, aimed at ensuring more efficient use of resources.
Dr. Oritseweyimi Ogbe, Secretary of the BHCPF Ministerial Oversight Committee (MOC), revealed this during the committee’s 11th meeting held on Monday in Abuja.
2022–2023 Audits Finalized
Ogbe confirmed that financial audits for 2022 and 2023, covering all four gateways at national and state levels, have been completed.
“We expect a draft of the audit reports from the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation (OAuGF) soon, after which a close-out meeting will be held,” he said.
He noted that since the fund’s inception in 2019, over N159.2 billion has been disbursed through various gateways to support primary healthcare delivery nationwide. However, disbursements for the first two quarters of 2025 remain pending, largely due to delays in fund releases and changes in Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) account signatories.
Aligning with National Health Reforms
Ogbe added that a memo is being prepared to address the pending 2025 disbursements, while the committee works to align its performance tracking with the National Health Sector Reform Implementation Initiative (NHSRII).
The MOC Secretariat is also collaborating with Monitoring and Evaluation teams to identify key BHCPF indicators that directly support Nigeria’s health reform goals.
Enhancing Public Access and Oversight
To improve public access to information about the fund, Ogbe said the MOC is working with the ICT Department of the Federal Ministry of Health to develop a dedicated BHCPF section on the ministry’s official website.
Other priorities include finalizing and disseminating the 2022 and 2023 audit reports and intensifying monitoring of performance-based indicators under the HOPE PHC Delivery Linked Indicators (DLIs), which fall within the MOC’s oversight.
The BHCPF, created under the National Health Act, serves as a vital funding mechanism for delivering a basic package of healthcare services, with a focus on supporting vulnerable groups nationwide.
