NCDC says ₦10bn Ebola-era fund covers other outbreaks, is only 2% of what's needed
- NCDC chief Jide Idris says the ₦10bn approved in June 2026 was for many epidemic-prone diseases, not Ebola alone.
- He says the money went to the NCDC, not the presidential Ebola task force, and is about two per cent of yearly needs.
- Nigeria has no active Ebola case, but contacts are still being watched for 21 days, Idris said.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has moved to clear up confusion over the ₦10 billion emergency fund approved by President Bola Tinubu, saying the money was never meant for Ebola alone.
In a statement on Monday, NCDC Director-General Dr Jide Idris said the fund was requested to strengthen the country's defence against several diseases that regularly threaten Nigerians. These include Ebola, Lassa fever, cholera, cerebrospinal meningitis, diphtheria, measles, mpox and antimicrobial resistance.
The clarification comes after Nigeria confirmed an imported case of Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease on October 20, 2026, its first in 12 years. That confirmation sparked public debate about how the ₦10 billion was approved and where it went.
Where the money went
Idris said the fund was released directly to the NCDC and not to the Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease, which is chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President. The task force, he explained, was set up to coordinate the national response, while the agency handles the wider health security work.
He said President Tinubu approved the ₦10 billion in June 2026, when the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo became a global emergency.
According to the NCDC boss, the agency's funding has been rising: from ₦4 billion in 2024 to ₦7 billion in 2025, plus a ₦5 billion intervention that year. The 2026 Appropriation provides ₦22 billion.
Even so, Idris argued that ₦10 billion is small compared with what Nigeria actually needs. He put the cost of the National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS 2.0), which runs from 2025 to 2029, at about ₦522 billion over five years, or roughly ₦104.4 billion a year.
On that basis, the ₦10 billion covers only about two per cent of the yearly requirement.
He also cited the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, which estimates that a country needs $1 to $2 per person each year to be reasonably prepared for epidemics. For Nigeria's population of about 240 million, that works out to between $240 million and $480 million annually.
"The ₦10 billion allocation remains inadequate to meet Nigeria's broader health security needs," Idris said.
No active Ebola case, but contacts still watched
On the outbreak itself, Idris said Nigeria had no active Ebola case as of the time of the statement. The imported case was confirmed in the laboratory on October 20, within 24 hours of an alert in Abuja.
He said all identified contacts are under daily monitoring and that surveillance will continue until the last contact completes the 21-day observation period without symptoms.
"We are not yet out of the woods," he said.
Idris said the current situation does not justify postponing elections, banning mass gatherings or restricting travel. Instead, the NCDC has issued guidelines for organisers of large events so they can go ahead safely.
He urged Nigerians to check information through the agency's official channels before sharing it, warning that rumours and panic could weaken the response.
"Ebola is a health threat, not a political tool, and science, not rumour, will lead this response," he said.
What happens next: The NCDC says it will keep updating the public on the Ebola response and on how the intervention fund is used. The 21-day contact monitoring period will determine when Nigeria can be declared free of the current scare.