By Sani Idris Abdulrahman

The Tax Justice & Governance Platform (TJ&GP), in collaboration with the Kaduna Maternal Accountability Mechanism (KADMAM) and the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Technical Working Group on Service Delivery, has called for improved budget execution in the Kaduna State health sector following the release of the Third Quarter (Q3) 2025 performance analysis.

The call was made on Monday during an advocacy visit to the Commissioner for Health, Hajiya Umma Ahmed, where the group presented the 2025 Q3 Health Budget Performance Policy Brief.

Presenting the analysis, Mr. Simeon Olatunde, Coordinator of TJ&GP in Kaduna, noted that although the State Government continues to prioritise health in annual budgets, fund releases remained relatively low, with overall performance at 27 per cent under Programme Classification as at third quarter.

He said while some programmes recorded strong administrative execution, critical community-focused interventions showed worrying gaps.

According to him, Programme 0402 (Community Engagement) and Programme 0409 (Universal Health Coverage) both recorded 0 per cent performance as of the third quarter.

“We are already in the fourth quarter, with 37 days left before the year ends. We still believe something can be done to address the outstanding releases, especially for community mobilisation and health insurance uptake,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of the KADMAM Co-chair, Dr. Sulaiman Tanko said the two unfunded programmes directly affect citizen awareness, financial risk protection and overall health sector equity.

He stressed the need for urgent remedial action toward ensuring that funds allocated for public-facing programmes translate into real benefits for communities.

Responding, the Honourable Commissioner for Health, Hajiya Umma Ahmed, commended the clarity and timeliness of the Q3 analysis.

She said the government remained committed to sustaining Kaduna State’s reputation for health sector reforms and improving outcomes across communities.

She acknowledged concerns raised on the 0 per cent performance in community engagement and UHC, noting that the Ministry was already reviewing internal processes to strengthen budget implementation.

She assured the delegation that she would engage relevant departments and agencies to fast-track releases for the identified budget lines.

According to her, Kaduna State’s ongoing investments in health and education are part of deliberate efforts to improve human capital development, describing both sectors as “capital projects rather than social services.”

She said over 200 Primary Healthcare Centres had so far been upgraded under the State’s multi-phase revitalisation drive, with plans to recruit 1,800 health workers over the next five years in line with a new Human Resources for Health (HRH) Policy.

The Honourable Commissioner also disclosed that the state recently won a national award for excellence in medical supply chain management, achieving near-zero stock-out rates through direct procurement from manufacturers.

She said more than 70,000 residents had benefited from cheaper essential medicines through the Contributory Health Scheme.

She urged TJ&GP to continue sensitising citizens on the importance of tax compliance, describing the Forum as “the eyes and ears of government to the people.”

During the visit, the delegation also raised issues relating to public toilet segregation for women and the need for stronger community mobilisation.

The Honourable Commissioner pledged to engage relevant agencies, noting that community engagement was critical to public awareness, especially with new innovations underway.

The meeting ended with group photographs to commemorate the visit.

TJ&GP, KADMAM and the OGP TWG pledged to monitor fourth-quarter releases and conduct a follow-up review of the 2025 budget implementation in early 2026.