Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has demanded the immediate publication of Nigeria’s health agreement with the United States following Ghanaian President John Mahama’s disclosure that Accra rejected a proposed U.S. health compact over concerns about medical records, pathogen information, funding obligations and the inspection of imported medicines.

Atiku, in a statement issued on Tuesday by his Director of Strategic Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said Nigerians should be allowed to examine the full terms of the agreement signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

“At this point, Nigerians do not know whether the provisions Ghana rejected are in the agreement Tinubu signed,” Atiku said. “That is precisely why the government must publish the full text.

Nigerians should not have to guess what has been agreed in their name.”
Mahama said on September 25 that Ghana’s Cabinet rejected the proposed U.S.

health compact after reviewing provisions he said required the country to provide its pathogen profile and medical records, commit counterpart funding and limit the Food and Drugs Authority’s power to inspect medicines and medical products supplied under the programme.

Nigeria signed its five-year health Memorandum of Understanding with the United States on December 19, 2025.
According to the Federal Ministry of Health, the agreement covers disease surveillance, outbreak response, laboratory systems and biosafety procedures for pathogen sample collection, transport, testing, storage and disposal, as well as health data systems and access to essential health commodities.

The ministry said the United States was expected to provide nearly $2 billion in grants between April 2026 and December 2030, while Nigeria committed to allocating at least six per cent of executed annual federal and state budgets to health, projected to mobilise nearly $3 billion in domestic financing over the same period.

Atiku said the commitments should be examined against Nigeria’s healthcare challenges, citing maternal mortality as a particular concern.

“Every one of those deaths represents a woman whose family expected her to come home,” he said. “This crisis did not begin under Tinubu, but he has had more than three years to show Nigerians how his government is making childbirth safer. Where are the results?”

He also questioned the Federal Government’s ability to meet its domestic funding commitments, citing a statement by Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate to lawmakers that only ₦36 million had been released from the ₦218 billion appropriated for capital projects and programmes at the Ministry of Health headquarters in 2025.

“A government that cannot release funds for approved health projects must explain how it intends to honour a multibillion-dollar commitment,” Atiku said.

He called for the publication of the complete MoU and all related protocols, annexes, data-sharing arrangements, specimen-sharing agreements and financial undertakings.

“Can Nigerians’ medical information or pathogen samples leave the country? Who may access them? What safeguards protect patients? Does NAFDAC retain full authority to inspect medicines and medical products? What exactly have the Federal Government and the states promised to spend?” he asked.

Atiku said Nigeria should welcome international health cooperation but insisted that the government must disclose the terms of agreements entered into on behalf of Nigerians.

He also called for disclosure of other international commitments by the administration, including its expanding partnership with France.

“Ghana examined the proposal before it and said no. Nigeria has already signed. Tinubu must now tell Nigerians exactly what he said yes to.
“Nigeria’s sovereignty is not classified information,” he said.