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Reps Probe $4.6bn Health Grants, Demand Oversight of HIV, Malaria Funds

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<p><&excl;-- BEGIN THEIA POST SLIDER --><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;2 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"P6ERylN7" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>The House of Representatives Committee on Infectious Diseases has intensified its investigation into the utilisation of about &dollar;4&period;6 billion in donor-funded health grants&comma; calling for stricter oversight and improved coordination among implementing organisations&period;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"B6ZuNcyr" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>The funds&comma; sourced largely from the Global Fund and the United States Agency for International Development&comma; were disbursed between 2021 and 2025 to support Nigeria’s response to HIV&sol;AIDS&comma; tuberculosis&comma; malaria and other infectious diseases&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Chairman of the committee&comma; Amobi Ogah&comma; made the position known on Sunday in Abuja during an oversight visit to key grant recipients&comma; including the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria&comma; Family Health International and Catholic Relief Services&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Ogah&comma; while commending the organisations for their contributions to disease control&comma; stressed that tighter monitoring mechanisms would now be enforced to ensure transparency&comma; accountability and value for money&period;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"PSyJQV6k" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;" &NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"6550225277"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It is imperative that every mobilised resource must be judiciously expended and accounted for&period; Therefore&comma; the committee is charging all Global Fund recipients to sit up&comma; as it will no longer be business as usual&comma;” he said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;2 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad1" id&equals;"quads-ad1" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;2 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5" id&equals;"quads-ad5" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>He added that all implementing partners would henceforth be required to submit their programme plans directly to the National Assembly for approval&comma; alongside quarterly reports detailing their activities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;To this end&comma; all recipients of Global Fund grants and sub-recipients are to submit their implementation plans to the parliament for approval&comma; in addition to quarterly reports&comma; so that strict adherence to transparency and accountability can be ensured&comma;” Ogah stated&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Nigeria remains one of the largest beneficiaries of Global Fund support globally&comma; receiving billions of dollars over the years to combat major public health challenges&period; The country currently has the second-largest HIV burden worldwide&comma; while malaria continues to be a leading cause of death&comma; particularly among children under five&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria&comma; Chief Executive Officer&comma; Patrick Dakum&comma; described the committee’s visit as timely&comma; noting that it provided an opportunity to highlight both achievements and gaps in programme implementation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A presentation by Dr Adetiba Temitope revealed that the institute received about &dollar;359&period;4 million from the Global Fund between 2021 and 2026&comma; with an additional &dollar;170&period;96 million expected&period; He noted that procurement processes were largely handled directly by the Global Fund through approved vendors&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At Catholic Relief Services&comma; Country Representative&comma; Akim Kikonda&comma; reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to accountability and transparency&comma; pledging continued collaboration with the National Assembly&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Similarly&comma; Victor Ogbodo of Family Health International said the engagement underscored the importance of synergy between lawmakers&comma; implementing partners and other stakeholders in strengthening Nigeria’s response to infectious diseases&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>FHI 360 disclosed that it received &dollar;290&period;44 million between January 2021 and December 2023&comma; disbursing &dollar;223&period;99 million before the programme ended&comma; while Catholic Relief Services reported receiving &dollar;74&period;784 million within the review period&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As part of the ongoing probe&comma; the committee has directed all beneficiary organisations to submit detailed financial records&comma; including bank statements and procurement documents&comma; signalling a more assertive legislative approach to monitoring donor-funded interventions&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;-- END THEIA POST SLIDER -->&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;2 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad3" id&equals;"quads-ad3" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"autorelaxed" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1004305389"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;2 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;

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