Nigeria, Jan. 4 -- Last month, President Bola Tinubu submitted the budget proposal for 2026 to the National Assembly. Out of a total budgetary proposal of N58.47 trillion, the president allocated N2.48 trillion to the health sector, about 4.2 per cent.

This relatively low allocation to health continues a trend.

Despite increases in health allocations under President Bola Tinubu, Nigeria's health sector remains persistently underfunded, receiving only a fraction of the resources agreed under the Abuja Declaration, a long-standing continental commitment to prioritise public health financing.

An analysis of federal budgets since 2023 shows that while health spending has increased in nominal naira terms, its share of total government expen...