OAU Primary Health Centre, Ojoku, during PREMIUM TIMES’ return visit on 6 May 2026. The exterior had been painted and the roof, doors and windows were in place, but no clinical services were being provided. [Credit: Photo: Ogalah Dunamis/PREMIUM TIMES.]
Kogi State said it committed over N7 billion to upgrade 88 primary healthcare facilities and later announced 80 as commissioned.
From a distance, the OAU Primary Health Centre in Ojoku, Ankpa Local Government Area of Kogi State, appeared newly built when PREMIUM TIMES returned to the facility on 6 May 2026.
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Its blue-and-white exterior had been painted, the roof was in place, and doors and windows had been fitted.
But a closer inspection revealed signs of unfinished work. The clinic was locked, with no health workers or patients in sight. No clinical services were being provided.
PREMIUM TIMES had first visited the facility in December 2025 and found that it was not providing clinical services.
Aminu Nuhu, head of the Department of Health Services, Ankpa Local Government Council, identified OAU PHC Ojoku as one of six facilities selected for revitalisation in the council area.
He said the council was still searching for health workers to deploy to some of the revitalised facilities.
“Those that have been revitalised, we are looking for staff to put in those facilities,” he said.
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However, the absence of personnel was not the only problem.
Mr Nuhu said a borehole had been drilled at the facility but could not supply water because there was no electricity or solar installation to power the pump.
“They have completed it, but we are expecting them to put it into operation,” he said.
Nearly five months after the first visit, PREMIUM TIMES returned to the facility and found that clinical services had still not commenced.
A security guard at the facility said there was no medical equipment inside.
“There is nothing inside,” he said. “It’s just the building.”
The situation at OAU PHC Ojoku was among the problems uncovered during a months-long PREMIUM TIMES investigation into the Kogi State government’s multibillion-naira primary healthcare revitalisation programme.
The investigation examined whether the government’s investment had translated into functional health facilities capable of delivering essential services to residents.
It found unfinished rehabilitation work, inadequate staffing, lack of basic infrastructure and health workers operating from temporary accommodation, despite the government’s announcement that dozens of facilities had been revitalised and commissioned.
Lokongoma PHC Initial Exterior
The N7 billion promise
In January 2025, the Kogi State government announced that it had committed over N7 billion, with support from the World Bank, to upgrade 88 PHCs across the state’s 21 LGAs.
The announcement was made during the formal handover of project sites to contractors at the Model PHC in Felele, Lokoja.
Governor Ahmed Ododo, represented by the Commissioner for Health, Abdulazeez Adams, said the intervention would contribute to the upgrading of more than 150 PHCs into functional Level 2 facilities.
The contractors were directed to complete the projects within four months.
On 7 November 2025, the state government announced the commissioning of 80 revitalised PHCs.
Muazu Musa, executive director of the Kogi State Primary Health Care Development Agency, said the facilities had been transformed from Level 1 to Level 2.
Under the federal government’s 2025 HOPE-PHC Programme Operations Manual, functional Level 2 PHCs are expected to provide 24-hour health services, including basic emergency obstetric and neonatal care.
The programme’s verification framework also covers the availability of skilled birth attendants, reliable electricity or backup solar power, functional toilets with water and access to clean water.
These requirements are intended to ensure that upgraded facilities can provide essential healthcare services beyond improvements to their physical structures.
However, the Kogi State Government did not provide PREMIUM TIMES with the complete list of the 80 facilities it announced as commissioned.
As a result, the newspaper could not independently establish whether the facilities inspected during the investigation were among those officially commissioned.
Following the money: N6.09 billion in four contracts
A review of Kogi State procurement disclosures revealed four infrastructure contracts covering 88 PHCs.
The contracts had a combined value of N6.1 billion and were awarded to Multi Purpose Errand Mens Services Ltd, QSA Nigeria Ltd, Inknuel Ltd and Base-SAN Ventures Nigeria Ltd.
The records showed that N5.5 billion, representing approximately 90.6 per cent of the combined contract value, had been recorded as paid to the four contractors.
PREMIUM TIMES could not independently verify the payments against bank statements or government treasury records. The figures are therefore described as amounts recorded ‘as paid’ in the procurement disclosure.
Kogi State said it committed over ₦7 billion to revamp 88 PHCs across all 21 LGAs. Four disclosed infrastructure contracts were worth ₦6.091 billion, with ₦5.516 billion recorded as paid. Although government accounts said the intervention covered all 21 LGAs, the four procurement lot descriptions named 20 distinct LGAs. [Credit: Graphic: PREMIUM TIMES.]The procurement records also revealed a discrepancy in the geographical coverage of the contracts.
Kogi State said it committed over ₦7 billion to revamp 88 PHCs across all 21 LGAs. Four disclosed infrastructure contracts were worth ₦6.091 billion, with ₦5.516 billion recorded as paid. Although government accounts said the intervention covered all 21 LGAs, the four procurement lot descriptions named 20 distinct LGAs. [Credit: Graphic: PREMIUM TIMES.]
Although the state government said the intervention covered all 21 LGAs, the descriptions of the four contract lots identified only 20 distinct LGAs.
Kogi LGA, whose headquarters is Koton-Karfe, was not listed in any of the four lots.
This does not necessarily mean the LGA was excluded from the intervention. However, without the complete list of the 88 beneficiary facilities, PREMIUM TIMES could not determine whether the omission occurred in the procurement summary or reflected the actual distribution of the projects.
The combined contract value of N6.1 billion was also lower than the government’s announced commitment of over N7 billion.
The available records did not explain what additional activities or expenditures accounted for the difference.
Separately, the state’s 2025 fourth-quarter Budget Implementation Report recorded a final budget of N8.205 billion for the broader Immunisation Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Services (IMPACT) programme.
The report showed year-to-date expenditure of approximately N7.818 billion.
However, the IMPACT programme covers activities beyond the four infrastructure contracts. Its expenditure cannot therefore be treated as the amount spent specifically on the 88 PHC rehabilitation projects.
The records available to PREMIUM TIMES did not reconcile these figures.
Questions over Lot D contractor
One of the contracts, identified as Lot D, was awarded to Base-SAN Ventures Nigeria Ltd for work covering 23 PHCs across Ankpa, Olamaboro, Omala, Ofu, Dekina, Ibaji and Bassa LGAs.
The procurement disclosure recorded approximately N1.069 billion as paid under the contract.
During a follow-up visit to PHC Ankpa, PREMIUM TIMES found a project signboard identifying “BASESAN VENTURE NIG LTD” as the contractor responsible for upgrading the facility.
The variation between the company name on the signboard and the name in the procurement disclosure raised questions about the contractor’s precise legal identity.
Separately, publicly available corporate information reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES identified BASESAN Ventures Limited, with registration number RC 822294, and listed a person named “Sanni Eggidi A” as a person with significant control.
The newspaper could not independently establish whether BASESAN Ventures Limited, Base-SAN Ventures Nigeria Ltd and the company named on the project signboard were the same legal entity or related companies.
PREMIUM TIMES subsequently contacted Sanni Abdulraheem, the member representing Ajaokuta Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, seeking clarification on whether he had any connection to BASESAN Ventures Limited.
The similarity between the name in the corporate information and that of the lawmaker does not establish that they refer to the same individual.
The newspaper also sought clarification on the relationship between the companies and requested records relating to the 23 PHCs covered by Lot D, including their approved scopes of work, completion status and inspection and certification documents.
The lawmaker’s response has not been received as of publication.
Missing records, unanswered questions
Beyond the discrepancies in contract values and geographical coverage, the procurement disclosure did not identify all 88 PHCs individually.
It also did not specify the approved scope of work, contract value or payment status for each facility.
The state government did not provide PREMIUM TIMES with the complete list of the 80 PHCs announced as commissioned in November 2025.
Without these documents, it was impossible to match the facilities covered by the contracts with those announced as completed and commissioned.
The absence of facility-level inspection reports and completion certificates also prevented independent verification of what was approved, delivered, and certified at individual project sites.
These gaps do not, on their own, establish diversion of funds or failure to execute the contracts. They do, however, limit public scrutiny of the government’s claims about the intervention.
Between December 2025 and September 2026, PREMIUM TIMES inspected and revisited health facilities across Ankpa, Lokoja and Ajaokuta LGAs.
The newspaper interviewed health workers, residents, and government officials; examined project signboards; and reviewed procurement and budget documents.
The findings concern facilities that local officials or site-level evidence linked to the state intervention.
Removed doors and window frames piled inside the unfinished rehabilitation work at PHCC Ankpa during PREMIUM TIMES’ inspection. [Credit: Photo: OgalahDunamis/PREMIUM TIMES.]
PHCC Ankpa: services running, problems persist
At the Primary Health Care Centre in Ankpa (PHCC Ankpa), clinical services were ongoing when PREMIUM TIMES first visited.
The facility provided antenatal care, routine immunisation, family planning, outpatient consultations and delivery services.
Momo Oneshona, the officer-in-charge, said the centre could receive as many as 70 patients on Mondays for immunisation, antenatal care and general consultations.
However, the facility faced significant operational challenges.
Health workers said there was no running water, grid electricity or solar power for general operations.
The available solar installation served the vaccine refrigerators.
“We don’t have solar, we don’t have water here, we don’t have light,” Mrs Oneshona said.
She explained that workers sterilised reusable instruments by boiling them over gas or ordinary stoves.
During the initial inspection, the laboratory was padlocked and appeared dusty.
The facility also faced staff shortages.
“We have a shortage of staff,” Mrs Oneshona said. “They retire; no replacement.”
She estimated that about seven workers were actively providing services, including three Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) and two Junior CHEWS.
According to Mrs Oneshona, the shortage of personnel and absence of a security guard meant the facility could not operate overnight.
This fell short of the 24-hour service expectations for functional Level 2 PHCs.