Govs Set for PHC Leadership Awards as Nigeria Deepens Health Reform, Accountability Drive

Sunday Ehigiator

Nigeria’s push to strengthen primary health care will take the spotlight today as Governors, health leaders, and global partners convene in Abuja for the 2025 Primary Health Care (PHC) Leadership Challenge Awards.

Now in its third edition, the initiative—one of the country’s fastest-growing accountability platforms—traces its roots to the 2019 Seattle Declaration, where all 36 governors pledged to build a health system that delivers quality care regardless of geography or circumstance.

Hosted by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), UNICEF, and supported by the Gates Foundation, this year’s ceremony would honour states demonstrating exceptional commitment to PHC reforms.

According to a statement signed by the Director, Media & Strategic Communications, NGF, Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, the event celebrates measurable progress in governance, financing, quality of care, and sustainability—proof that political will, when sustained, can translate into tangible results for millions of Nigerians.

For many observers, “the challenge has become one of Nigeria’s clearest examples of how political will can turn into real outcomes,” the statement quoted the Chairman, NGF, AbdulRahman  AbdulRazaq, to have said, noting that the platform, “has become a beacon of what strong, accountable leadership can achieve in our health system. It celebrates results, rewards performance, and ultimately delivers better care for our people.”

“The Primary Health Care Leadership Challenge was built to keep governors focused on their promises under the Seattle Declaration. At its core is a Performance Monitoring Framework that measures how well states are strengthening governance, financing, quality of care, evidence use, and sustainability within their PHC systems.

“These indicators were selected by national PHC stakeholders based on the principles of meaningfulness, availability, movability, measurability, and simplicity (MAMMS).

“After the first edition of the awards, the presidential indicators of the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative were also integrated into the assessment framework. The result is a system that does not only reward states for what they build but for how consistently they fund it, manage it, and sustain it.

“The independent judging panel is made up of eminent public health professionals, the academia, religious and traditional leaders, media and the civil society organisations.

“These team review the assessment conducted by independent verification agents recruited via United Nations rigorous recruitment system,” the statement added.

It pointed out that Governors are evaluated on the performance of PHC governance structures, budget releases, availability of trained health workers, infrastructure readiness, reliable data use, and efforts to institutionalise PHC leadership at the Local Government Area (LGA) level. Independent verification agents and judges ensure that results are credible and publicly defensible.

“This year’s edition will present 13 awards: two for each of the six geopolitical zones and one national prize for the overall best performing state. A total of US$6.1 million will be shared across the winning states, and every cent is earmarked for reinvestment into local PHC systems.

“The awards have a strong history. In 2023, Borno emerged as the national champion, earning $700,000 as overall best performer and $500,000 as the leading state in the Northeast. Kwara, Jigawa, Ebonyi, Rivers, and Ondo emerged best performers in their zones, with FCT, Bauchi, Zamfara, Abia, Edo, and Ogun emerging runners up.

“In 2024, Anambra took the national prize under Governor Charles Soludo, securing $700,000. The zonal winners were Anambra, Rivers, Osun, Yobe, Kaduna, and Kwara, while Abia, Delta, Lagos, Gombe, Jigawa, and the FCT took the runners up positions. Gombe also received a special innovation award.

“Now entering its third cycle, the challenge is regarded as one of the most credible state-level accountability mechanisms in Nigeria’s health sector. It blends competition with peer learning and encourages governors to adopt the best-performing strategies from across the country,” it added.

According to the NGF Chairman, “This is not just an award ceremony, it is a celebration of impact, accountability, and a commitment to the health and wellbeing of every Nigerian.”