The Oyo State Government has dismissed claims by the Senator Sharafadeen Alli Campaign Organisation (SSACO) that the state is performing poorly in primary healthcare delivery, describing the allegations as misleading and contrary to verifiable evidence.
The government said Oyo had emerged as one of Nigeria’s leading states in primary healthcare reforms through the implementation of the Primary Healthcare Under One Roof (PHCUOR) policy, recruitment of 3,933 health workers and introduction of sustainable healthcare financing mechanisms.
In a statement on Monday, the Special Adviser on Media to Governor Seyi Makinde, Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, said the campaign organisation’s assessment was politically motivated and failed to reflect the achievements recorded in the state’s healthcare sector.
He maintained that Oyo’s performance in primary healthcare was backed by documented interventions, measurable outcomes and improvements in critical health indicators, adding that constructive criticism should be based on facts rather than political propaganda.
Olanrewaju explained that the state established the Oyo State Primary Health Care Board in 2015, strengthened its legal framework and transferred the management of primary healthcare personnel to the board in line with the PHCUOR policy.
He added that the government had also introduced monitoring and evaluation systems, supportive supervision across the 33 Local Government Health Authorities and digital health initiatives to improve accountability and service delivery.
The governor’s aide identified the recruitment of 3,933 healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, community health officers, pharmacists, nutrition officers and other support personnel, as one of the administration’s major interventions in the sector.
On healthcare financing, he said the state had established a legal framework dedicating 7.5 per cent of local government statutory allocations to primary healthcare programmes, describing the initiative as an innovative model for sustainable funding.
He also dismissed allegations of poor performance under the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF), insisting that Oyo remained compliant with its requirements, including counterpart funding, direct facility funding and quarterly performance reporting.
According to him, the state continues to receive disbursements under the programme and has not been sanctioned for violating its operational guidelines.
Olanrewaju further said the Makinde administration had embarked on the renovation, upgrading and equipping of primary healthcare facilities across the state, while expanding access to mental health, dental, eye, adolescent, geriatric and school health services.
He said these interventions had contributed to improvements in immunisation, antenatal care, skilled birth attendance, family planning and nutrition outcomes.
Highlighting the state’s performance in tackling childhood malnutrition, the media aide said recent assessments showed that child stunting had declined from historical estimates of between 34.7 and 37 per cent to 26.8 per cent in the MDHS 2025/2026 report.
He added that under the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) programme, stunting prevalence dropped from about 34 per cent at baseline to 23.1 per cent, earning Oyo recognition as one of the best-performing states under the initiative.
He also disclosed that wasting prevalence declined from 14.4 per cent in the NDHS 2024 to 6.6 per cent in the MDHS 2025, while under-five underweight prevalence dropped from 26.1 to 17.7 per cent.
According to him, the government had also improved infant and young child feeding indicators, with minimum meal frequency increasing from 11.4 to 39.4 per cent and minimum acceptable diet rising from 5.8 to 12.9 per cent.
He said the state committed ₦227 million in UNICEF matching funds for Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation, while Vitamin A supplementation coverage among children increased from 39.1 to 69.4 per cent.
On digital health innovation, Olanrewaju said the government had deployed computers and other equipment to primary healthcare facilities, trained health workers and commenced the gradual implementation of electronic medical record systems.
He added that the state currently operated hundreds of functional primary healthcare facilities under the BHCPF programme and had secured approval for additional facilities following assessments by relevant federal authorities.
The government, he said, had equally strengthened disease surveillance, emergency preparedness and community participation through Ward Development Committees.
Olanrewaju challenged the opposition campaign organisation to assess the state’s healthcare performance against verifiable records and outcomes rather than partisan claims.
He reaffirmed the Makinde administration’s commitment to building an accessible and resilient healthcare system, stressing that the true measure of performance lay in functional health facilities, motivated health workers and improved health outcomes.
