Budgeted but Unfunded: Despite N5.9bn budget, Kaduna neglects rehabilitation of 20 General, Rural Hospitals
By Aminu Abubakar
A SolaceBase review of the Kaduna State budget performance document for the period between January and September 2025 has revealed significant neglect of key public health institutions across the state, despite clear budgetary provisions for their rehabilitation and upgrade.
The review shows that the Kaduna State Government failed to release or spend funds earmarked for the renovation and upgrading of at least twenty general, rural, and dental hospitals during the nine-month period under review.
This occurred even though the facilities were captured in the 2025 budget with specific allocations meant to improve infrastructure, expand service delivery, and enhance healthcare access for residents across multiple local government areas.
According to the budget performance document examined, the affected hospitals collectively had a budgetary allocation of N5.9 billion for renovation and facility upgrades. However, there was zero expenditure recorded for these projects between January and September 2025, indicating a complete lapse in implementation.
The hospitals affected by the non-release of funds span different zones of the state and include major general hospitals and rural health facilities expected to serve large populations.
Among them are General Hospital Maigana, General Hospital Ikara, Ibrahim Yakowa General Hospital Kafanchan, General Hospital Giwa, General Hospital Rigasa, General Hospital Gwantu, Yusuf Dantsoho Memorial Hospital Tudun Wada, General Hospital Makarfi, Rural Hospital Kujarma, General Hospital Kagarko, Hajiya Gambo Sawaba Hospital, Gwamna Awan General Hospital Kakuri, and General Hospital Zonkwa.
Others listed in the budget but left unfunded include General Hospital Turunku, General Hospital Kauru, General Hospital Pambegua, General Hospital Kwoi, General Hospital Hunkuyi, Rural Hospital Idan, and Rural Hospital Doka. These facilities are spread across both urban and rural communities, many of which rely heavily on public hospitals as their primary source of healthcare services.
The failure to implement these rehabilitation projects raises concerns about the state of healthcare infrastructure, particularly as public hospitals across Kaduna State continue to grapple with aging buildings, obsolete equipment, and inadequate facilities. Budgetary provisions for renovation and upgrades are typically designed to address these challenges by improving hospital environments, expanding capacity, and ensuring better working conditions for medical personnel.
Despite the absence of spending on hospital rehabilitation, the budget performance document shows that allocations for other sectors and expenditures continued to receive attention. This contrast becomes more pronounced when viewed alongside labour-related developments within the state’s health sector during the same period.
In August 2025, the Association of Resident Doctors at Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, Kaduna, issued a 12-day strike notice to the Kaduna State Government. The notice followed unresolved issues bordering on remuneration and welfare, adding to broader concerns about the prioritisation of healthcare in the state.
The doctors demanded the full implementation and payment of the 100 per cent Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) 2024 as adjusted, including two months’ arrears. The industrial action threat came amid broader strains within the healthcare system, further highlighting the challenges facing public health institutions in the state.
The neglect of hospital rehabilitation also stands in sharp contrast to allocations made for other government expenditures in the 2025 fiscal year.
Earlier reviews of the Kaduna State-approved 2025 budget showed that the government allocated N3.8 billion for the purchase of vehicles for lawmakers.
This allocation followed an earlier expenditure of N1.5 billion in 2024 for the same purpose. If the entire N3.8 billion allocation is fully expended in 2025, total spending on lawmakers’ vehicles within a two-year period would amount to N5.3 billion.
The scale of spending on vehicles becomes even more striking when compared with allocations for essential infrastructure projects. Despite the critical importance of water supply to public health and overall welfare, the Kaduna State Government earmarked a total of N2.9 billion for the construction and provision of water facilities in 2025—N900 million less than the amount budgeted for vehicle procurement.
In addition, only N602.8 million was allocated for the rehabilitation of existing water infrastructure across the state, further underscoring disparities in budgetary priorities.
Taken together, the budget performance figures point to a pattern in which significant sums were appropriated for healthcare infrastructure but left unutilised, while other non-essential expenditures attracted substantial funding. The failure to release funds for the rehabilitation of twenty hospitals not only undermines the intent of the approved budget but also raises questions about the implementation of policies aimed at strengthening the state’s healthcare system.
The absence of spending on hospital renovation projects leaves critical health facilities without the upgrades initially promised, despite billions of naira being allocated on paper for that purpose.
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