By Henry Umoru, ABUJA
YOBE state has emerged the overall Best Performing State at the third edition of the National Primary Health Care (PHC) Leadership Challenge Awards.
The award was organised yesterday late night by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), the umbrella body of the thirty-six state governors in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), and UNICEF, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The programme us designed to drive accountability and foster healthy competition among states to improve health outcomes and the quality of care delivered at the grassroots level.
Yobe state won a grand prize of $700,000 for its outstanding commitment to strengthening primary healthcare services.
According to the organisers, the state also won the Zonal Best Performing State award for the North-East, which carried a prize of $500,000, making its total winnings amounted to $1.2 million, just as it was recognized based on key performance indicators, notably demonstrating excellence in quality of care and patients’ satisfaction.
The Zonal Awards were also won by each geopolitical zone receiving $500,000, while the first runners-up were awarded $400,000 each.
Other states that won the “ Zonal Best Performing State awards’’ were Nasarawa for North-Central, Zamfara for North-West, Abia for South-East, Rivers for South-South, and Osun for South-west
The runners-up for the best performing state awards were Gombe (North-East), Kwara (North-Central), Kaduna State (North-West), Anambra (South-East), Bayelsa (South-South) and Ogun (South-West).
The prizes awarded totaling $6.1 million are intended to be reinvested by the winning states to further enhance their primary healthcare infrastructure, services, and human resource capacity.
According to the NGF, the event was in line with the Federal Government’s National Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII), which prioritises strengthening the PHC system as the foundation of universal health coverage.
In his remarks Vice-President Kasheem Shettima, congratulated all the winners and commended the state governors for their leadership and support towards improving health outcomes.
Represented by the Minister of Health, Dr Ali Pate, Shettima who noted that constructive competition, like the PHC Leadership Challenge, ensures that “Nigeria wins, said that the progress made in the health sector since the governors signed a long-term compact with President Bola Tinubu two years ago under the sector-wide programme, adding, “Between 2024 and now, we’ve seen 20 states surpassing their targets in 2024!”
The Vice President who further stressed that states had also been increasing their budget allocation for health to ₦2.6 billion compared to what it was before, emphasised that a healthy individual is key to national development.
He said, “Health is a fundamental aspiration for every human being. Wherever you see good health, someone has invested in it. State governments, Federal Government, all of us have to invest in health.”
Shettima who urged the state governors to increase their investments in the healthcare, projecting that the total allocation to the health sector should reach at least ₦3.5 trillion in the next fiscal year, given the resources available to the states, however acknowledged that Nigerians were still being faced the challenge of affordability of healthcare services.
According to him, the Federal Government was intervening to cut down the cost of drugs, diagnosis, and tests, especially for those who don’t have deep pockets, just aa he stressed the need for state government to see merit to join the effort of the Federal Government in that regard.
He said that investing in health has multiplier effects including increase in healthier and more productive population, accumulation of human capital, to boost the country’s prosperity, social capital to build stronger communities, adding that health investment would attracts manufacturing and creates jobs, citing the recent groundbreaking for the first African factory to produce long-lasting insecticide nets.
Shettima expressed hope that within five years, Nigeria would become self-sufficient in investing in its own health sector, reducing dependency on external assistance.
Speaking on behalf of the winning states, Governor Alex Otti of Abia who hailed the NGF, the World Bank, UNDP, UNICEF and other sponsors of the award, pledging that states would raise the bar in 2026, said, `I just want to say we are very grateful, and we know that the reward for hard work is more work. So, we assure you that we are going to raise the bar.
“For us, the spend on health care, we don’t spend it as an investment, because once you begin to look at investment, the next thing you will know will be return.
“We see investment in health care as a necessary condition for people to survive in your states. So, we don’t think that this is money you are investing and tomorrow you will get a commission. It is an essential part of your life,”
Speaking with Journalists, Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfarara State who pledged that the 500,000 dollars won by the state would be reinvested to refurbish some of the PHC centres in the state, said, “It is very exciting to see someone recognising what you do and I will continue to do more.
“We were spending our own money, and this is additional fund, we are going to put the money in the PHC in Zamfara State,”
He however said that while inadequate funding remained a major challenge, Zamfara State government would continue to prioritise the health sector.
Earlier in his remarks, Chairman of the NGF and Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq who was represented by Nasarawa State governor, Engr. Abdullahi Sule said, “Notably, today marks exactly two years since that landmark Compact was signed by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the 36 Governors, and our Development Partners.
“We are also happy to note that that over the last three editions, we have witnessed remarkable improvements across the Federation. The steady progress from the first to the second round—and now to the third—demonstrates clearly that when leadership is intentional and accountable, measurable and transformative change is possible.
“Indeed, over the last three years, States have increased their budget allocations to health, resulting in significant infrastructural upgrades across PHC facilities and expanded recruitment of human resources for health. The combined health budget for the 36 States has grown from ₦831 billion in 2022, to ₦927 billion in
2023, ₦1.4 trillion in 2024, and ₦2.36 trillion in 2025—with 30% of these annual budgets dedicated to Primary Health Care. We have also begun to see reductions in institutional maternal mortality, reflecting the impact of these investments.
“Additionally, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum has introduced a series of scorecards to track State commitments and promote accountability across key health initiatives. I am also pleased to announce that an expanded scorecard to track subnational commitments to the Health Sector Renewal Compact will be released in 2026, to enable us—as Governors—to transparently monitor and uphold the commitments we have made.
“Looking ahead, we reaffirm our dedication to the aspirations of the Seattle Declaration. The progress we have made through the PHC Leadership Challenge affirms that these commitments are not mere declarations but responsibilities we continue to pursue with diligence and focus—so that every Nigerian, regardless of location or circumstance, can access quality Primary Health Care.”
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