A staggering number of over 1,500 health workers under the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) have reportedly not received salaries in the past 20 months, following Federal Government budgetary cuts.
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According to reports, this situation stems from a directive by the FG that certain government agencies must become self-funded.
This directive, initially detailed in a memo signed by former Budget Office DG, Ben Akabueze, in 2023, stated that professional bodies would cease receiving federal budget allocations starting from December 2026.
However, some agencies—including EHCON—were excluded from 2024 funding entirely.
The EHCON, responsible for regulating environmental health and disease prevention, played key roles during the 2014 Ebola outbreak and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
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Officers were deployed at airports, seaports, and land borders to conduct decontaminations and other health safety procedures.
Despite appeals made by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in 2024 for the continued funding of vital health regulatory bodies, EHCON remained under the Ministry of Environment and was overlooked in the national budget.
In a letter dated April 30, 2025, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, urged President Bola Tinubu to reconsider the council's exclusion. He emphasized that EHCON's preventive role was crucial to Nigeria's public health system.
“This has led to severe financial hardship for the agency and its staff due to the non-payment of salaries and operational expenses,” the memo read.
While 13 agencies under the Ministry of Health received a N6 billion allocation, EHCON staff have been left in financial limbo, with many unable to support their families or continue field operations.
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Public health experts are now warning that this prolonged funding gap could endanger Nigeria’s readiness to manage future disease outbreaks. Stakeholders continue to call for urgent government intervention to reinstate funding for EHCON.
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