Yobe State clinches top honours at Nigeria Primary Healthcare Leadership Awards, securing $1.2m as NGF rewards reforms driving grassroots healthcare delivery.
Yobe State has been recognised as the Overall Best Performing State at the third edition of the Nigeria Primary Healthcare Leadership Awards, an initiative of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) aimed at strengthening healthcare delivery at the grassroots.
The honour underscores the state’s sustained reforms and commitment to improving access, quality, and accountability within its primary healthcare system.
The award ceremony, held on Friday night in Abuja, was organised by the NGF in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), and UNICEF, with financial and technical backing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The event brought together governors, development partners, health sector leaders, and policymakers to celebrate progress and reinforce commitments to universal health coverage.
In recognition of its performance, Yobe State received a grand prize of $700,000 as the overall winner.
The state also emerged as the Zonal Best Performing State in the North-East, earning an additional $500,000.
This brought Yobe’s total prize money to $1.2 million, which the NGF said must be reinvested to further strengthen primary healthcare infrastructure, workforce capacity, and service delivery.
Beyond Yobe’s success, zonal best-performing states were announced across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
Nasarawa State won in the North-Central, Zamfara in the North-West, Abia in the South-East, Rivers in the South-South, and Osun in the South-West. Each of these states received $500,000.
First runners-up from each zone—Gombe, Kwara, Kaduna, Anambra, Bayelsa, and Ogun—were awarded $400,000 each.
Altogether, prizes amounting to $6.1 million were distributed during the ceremony.
According to the NGF, the funding is not a reward for prestige but a strategic investment designed to deepen reforms, promote accountability, and foster healthy competition among states in the delivery of primary health care.
The NGF explained that the Nigeria Primary Healthcare Leadership Awards were established to drive measurable improvements in health outcomes at the community level.
By linking performance to funding and public recognition, the initiative encourages governors to prioritise frontline health services, which serve as the foundation for universal health coverage.
Addressing the gathering, Vice-President Kashim Shettima congratulated all the winning states and commended governors for their leadership in advancing health sector reforms.
Represented by the Minister of Health, Dr Ali Pate, the Vice-President said constructive competition among states ultimately benefits the entire country.
He recalled that significant progress has been recorded since governors signed the Health Sector Renewal Compact with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu two years ago.
According to him, at least 20 states exceeded their health sector targets in 2024, reflecting stronger political will and improved planning.
Shettima noted that combined state health budgets have grown substantially, reaching about ₦2.6 trillion, a marked increase from previous years.
He stressed that a healthy population remains central to economic growth, productivity, and national stability.
The Vice-President urged governors to further scale up investments in healthcare, projecting that with available resources, total allocations to the sector could reach ₦3.5 trillion in the next fiscal year.
He also acknowledged that affordability remains a major barrier for many Nigerians, assuring that the Federal Government is working to reduce the cost of medicines, diagnostics, and laboratory tests, especially for low-income citizens.
Expressing optimism, Shettima said Nigeria could become largely self-sufficient in financing its health sector within the next five years, thereby reducing reliance on donor funding.
Speaking on behalf of award-winning states, Abia State Governor Alex Otti described the initiative as both a recognition and a responsibility.
He said the awards should motivate states to raise standards even higher ahead of the next edition.
Otti emphasised that spending on healthcare should not be viewed purely as an economic investment with expected returns, but as a fundamental obligation of government to protect lives and ensure human dignity.
Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal, whose state won the North-West zonal award, said the $500,000 prize would be used to refurbish and upgrade primary healthcare centres.
While acknowledging funding challenges, he reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to prioritising healthcare delivery.
Earlier, NGF Chairman and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, noted that the awards coincided with the second anniversary of the Health Sector Renewal Compact signed by President Tinubu, state governors, and development partners.
Represented by Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule, he said the steady improvement witnessed over three editions of the challenge demonstrates that accountable leadership can drive transformative change.
He revealed that total state health budgets rose from ₦831 billion in 2022 to ₦2.36 trillion in 2025, with about 30 per cent dedicated to primary healthcare.
These investments, he said, have resulted in improved facilities, expanded recruitment of health workers, and reductions in institutional maternal mortality.
The NGF Chairman also announced plans to release an expanded scorecard in 2026 to track subnational commitments under the Health Sector Renewal Compact, ensuring transparency and sustained accountability.
He reaffirmed governors’ commitment to the Seattle Declaration and the shared goal of ensuring that every Nigerian, regardless of location or circumstance, has access to quality primary healthcare through initiatives such as the Nigeria Primary Healthcare Leadership Awards.
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