The Federal Government has deployed Performance and Financial Management Officers (PFMOs) to 774 Local Government Areas in the country to improve transparency and accountability in the management of Basic Healthcare Provision Funds (BHCPF).

Meanwhile, over 60,700 health workers have been retrained, while several facilities are being revitalized with solar power, better infrastructure, equipment, and essential medical commodities as part of efforts to reposition the Primary Healthcare centres in the country.

Speaking at the national flag-off and onboarding training for the officers, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Muyi Aina, said the initiative is key to strengthening the implementation of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) at the primary healthcare level.

He said, “Every local government in Nigeria has a young person who has been selected as a PFMO, they are paid staff of the primary health care system, and their job is to drive accountability and transparency. They are going to be monitoring what is going on and giving us feedback.”

Aina explained that the initiative was part of President Bola Tinubu’s wider reforms to ensure Nigerians have access to quality basic health services.

The NPHCDA boss noted that funding is now flowing through four BHCPF gateways involving the NPHCDA, NHIA, states, and local governments directly to health facilities.

He said, “One of the commitments of President Tinubu to Nigerians is to provide access to essential basic health services that is high quality and that we trust.

“So there are a number of reforms that his government has embarked on to achieve this. There’s increased funding going in through the system.

“Money that is going from the NPHCDA, from the NHIA, four different gateways of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund, through the states and local governments, to the health facilities.

“There are commodities that are being procured and deployed. There are these facilities that are being revitalized, improved, putting solar power, putting better infrastructure, putting equipment.

“For all of this to come together and work well, there needs to also be some accountability and some visibility into what we’re doing.”

Aina added that the PFMO deployment aligns with the recently launched Health Fellows programme, which also targets 774 youths across the country.

Both initiatives aim to build a pipeline of future public health leaders while strengthening current service delivery and oversight, Aina said.

The flag-off training was held in Abuja, with representatives from five North Central states and the FCT in attendance.

Aina clarified that the onboarding exercise is being conducted simultaneously across all 36 states and the FCT.

“We wanted to have a symbolic flag-off here and engage these states more directly, but the same training is happening across Nigeria,” he said.