The Nigerian government has failed to pay more than 1,500 health professionals working for the Environmental Health Council for nearly two years after cutting budgets to various agencies.

The Nigerian Parliament created the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) in 2002 as the country?s main organisation responsible for overseeing environmental health rules and activities that help prevent the spread of diseases.

These health workers have played crucial roles during major health crises. During Nigeria?s Ebola outbreak in 2014, environmental health officers fought on the front lines against the deadly virus. Later, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the government deployed them to all of Nigeria?s entry points ? airports, seaports, and land borders. They also carried out cleaning and disinfection work both inside and outside buildings to stop the virus from spreading further.

Why haven?t they been paid?

The salary crisis stems from a government decision to stop funding certain agencies. In 2023, Ben Akabueze, who then headed the Federal Government?s Budget Office, sent out a memo explaining that some agencies would need to become self-funded.

?I wish to inform you that the Presidential Committee on Salaries, at its 13th meeting, approved the discontinuation of budgetary allocation to professional bodies/councils effective 31st December 2026,? the memo read.

However, while some of the 30 affected agencies would continue receiving government funding until 2026, others ? including EHCON ? saw their funding cut off in December 2024.

The government published a list of 26 councils that would lose funding, estimating this would save the country around ?27.72 billion. Unfortunately for EHCON, it was on this list, creating a massive gap in the money needed to pay staff and run operations.

Some health agencies were lucky

In 2024, Tunji Alausa, who was then Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, asked the government to spare health agencies from the funding cuts.

His appeal worked for some organisations. Thirteen health agencies under the Ministry of Health were exempted from the cuts, and the Federal Government released over ?6 billion to pay their workers? salaries.

However, EHCON was left out because it falls under the Ministry of Environment rather than the Ministry of Health, despite its health-related work.

A plea for help

On 30th April 2025, George Akume, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, wrote a letter to President Bola Tinubu asking for help for the unpaid health workers.

In his letter, Akume explained that other health regulatory bodies had been saved from funding cuts because of their important role in protecting the public and supporting healthcare delivery.

?With utmost regards, I write to intimate Your Excellency on the correspondence from the Federal Ministry of Environment and Sanitation with Ref. NO. FMENV/PRS/757/TI/05, dated 16th April 2025, on the funding of certain professional bodies/councils in the health sector, including the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria, which was discontinued following a decision by the Presidential Committee on Salaries (copy attached for ease of reference).?

He pointed out that money had been set aside in the 2024 budget for health regulatory agencies, but EHCON was excluded simply because it?s housed under the Ministry of Environment.

?However, the EHCON, which is under the environmental sector, was excluded and therefore received zero allocation in the 2024 budget under the Federal Ministry of Environment, where the agency is domiciled.

?This has led to severe financial hardship for the agency and its staff due to the non-payment of salaries and operational expenses from January to December 2024.?

Akume argued that EHCON deserves funding because its workers are essentially health professionals who focus on preventing disease and keeping communities healthy.

?In the light of the foregoing, Your Excellency may consider and approve the funding of the EHCON since their activities also include regulation of environmental health practitioners, who are responsible for preventive health, sanitary and well-being of society to address the Ministry of Environment?s concerns regarding EHCON?s exclusion from the funding provision,? the letter read. (BusinessDay)

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