No fewer than 1,500 environmental health professionals under the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) have gone without pay for the past 20 months due to a directive from the Federal Government to halt funding for select government agencies.
EHCON, established under Act 11 of 2002 (as amended), is the primary regulatory body responsible for overseeing environmental health standards and preventing disease outbreaks across Nigeria.
The council has been pivotal in public health crises, notably during the 2014 Ebola outbreak and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, where its officers were deployed at all points of entry—airports, seaports, and land borders—and carried out extensive decontamination efforts nationwide.
However, a 2023 directive signed by the former Director General of the Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, signaled a shift. It announced that from December 31, 2026, professional bodies and regulatory councils would become fully self-funded, responsible for their personnel, overhead, and capital expenditures.
While some of the 30 affected agencies would continue to receive funding until 2026, the Federal Government scheduled others, including EHCON, to be cut off by December 2024.
A list published in 2024 by the Budget Office confirmed the budget cuts, estimating a total national savings of N27.72 billion. As a result, EHCON faced a significant deficit in its overhead and personnel budgets, rendering it unable to pay its staff.
Although then Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Tunji Alausa, appealed for the exemption of health-related agencies, only 13 under the Ministry of Health were granted relief, with the Federal Government allocating over N6 billion for their salaries.
EHCON, categorized under the Ministry of Environment, was not included in this exemption and received no budgetary allocation for 2024.
A letter dated April 30, 2025, from Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, to President Bola Tinubu, highlighted the council’s ongoing financial hardship.
The SGF referenced an earlier communication from the Federal Ministry of Environment and Sanitation and urged reconsideration, citing EHCON’s critical role in preventive health and environmental safety.
Akume reminded the President that the Federal Executive Council, during a January 2024 meeting, had acknowledged the importance of continued funding for key health regulatory agencies, including the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, the Pharmacy Council, and others.
He argued that EHCON’s exclusion contradicted the government’s broader commitment to strengthening healthcare regulation.
“In light of the foregoing, Your Excellency may consider and approve the funding of the EHCON, given their vital role in regulating environmental health practitioners responsible for preventive healthcare, sanitation, and societal well-being,” Akume appealed.
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The agency and its workers remain in limbo, awaiting federal intervention as they grapple with unpaid salaries and limited operational capacity.
