Gombe State has again recorded a major milestone in primary healthcare delivery, emerging second in the North-East at the 2025 National Primary Health Care (PHC) Leadership Challenge and outperforming four other states in the sub-region.
The feat earned the state a $400,000 cash prize, presented at the 2025 PHC Leadership Challenge Awards Night held at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja.
The event was chaired by Vice-President Kashim Shettima.
Gombe’s latest recognition reinforces its strong performance in the initiative, having won the PHC Leadership Challenge Innovation Award in 2024—the first since the inception of the programme—while also emerging second in the North-East, an achievement that equally earned the state a $400,000 reward.
The PHC Leadership Challenge is coordinated by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and UNICEF, with support from development partners including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Aliko Dangote Foundation.
The initiative aims to motivate states to strengthen governance, financing, service delivery, sustainability and health outcomes in their primary healthcare systems, in line with the Seattle Declaration adopted by all 36 state governors in 2019.
Speaking at the event, Vice-President Shettima, represented by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, congratulated Gombe and other award-winning states for their commitment to improving healthcare delivery.
He commended state governors for their leadership and support, noting that such efforts had contributed significantly to the success of health programmes across the country.
The vice-president said the Federal Government was committed to repositioning the health sector through increased budgetary allocation as part of broader reforms under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
According to him, sustained investment in health remains critical to national development, stressing the need to address persistent challenges in access to quality and affordable healthcare.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Governor of Kwara, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, said the PHC Leadership Challenge was designed to stimulate improved performance among states through healthy competition in the interest of Nigerians.
On the sidelines of the event, the Deputy Governor of Gombe State, Mr Manassah Daniel Jatau, who represented Gov. Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, expressed delight over the award, describing it as a validation of the state’s deliberate investments in the health sector.
Jatau recalled that Gov. Inuwa Yahaya, upon assumption of office in 2019, declared a state of emergency in the health sector, leading to the revitalisation of at least one functional primary healthcare centre in each of the state’s 114 wards.
He added that many wards now had two or more PHC facilities, while secondary healthcare institutions had been upgraded to meet increasing service demands.
The deputy governor said the administration’s reforms, including the establishment of key health agencies, policy implementation and sustained investment in infrastructure and manpower, had improved health outcomes and expanded access to quality healthcare across the state.
The Gombe State delegation to the awards ceremony included the Commissioner for Health, Dr Habu Dahiru, and the Executive Secretary of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Abdulrahman Shuaibu.
