…The ADC said it is difficult to justify an agreement in which Nigeria bears the larger financial burden, yet decisions regarding target beneficiaries and discretion to pause or terminate cooperation appear to rest outside the country.
SUN JAN 18 2026-theGBJournal| The African Democratic Congress (ADC) party has raised concern of a ”Constitutional breach” after conflicting framings on recently signed health cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Nigeria and the United States.
The party is also seeking clarification from the Federal Government on the implications of the MoU after the United States Embassy issued a statement that describes the MoU in materially different terms.
The MoU states that the United States is expected to provide approximately US$2 billion in grant support over five years, while Nigeria has reportedly committed close to US$3 billion in domestic health financing over the same period.
The ADC said it is difficult to justify an agreement in which Nigeria bears the larger financial burden, yet decisions regarding target beneficiaries and discretion to pause or terminate cooperation appear to rest outside the country.
”While the Federal Government has presented the MoU as a technical and inclusive framework aimed at health security, expanding primary healthcare, and increasing domestic health funding, the U.S characterization introduces religious, identity-based framing, indicating that spending under the MoU should be targeted at health institutions backed by a particular religion only,” the ADC said in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, today.
The ADC argued that the Nigerian government should not enter into any agreement that is sectional or potentially inimical to Nigeria’s constitutional commitment to inclusion and national unity.
”We find it particularly curious that these troubling conditionalities, including those that grant the United States unilateral powers of termination, are conspicuously missing from the Federal Government’s public rendering of the agreement.”
The ADC believes that the divergence is not a mere communications issues, instead it appears calculated to avoid public scrutiny, thereby raising fundamental questions about transparency, constitutional compliance, and Nigeria’s sovereignty.
”Nigerians are entitled to know which version of this agreement reflects the actual terms that were signed, and why such consequential differences exist between Abuja’s account and Washington’s.”
The ADC wants the Federal Government also, to come clean and publish the full text of the signed MoU, including any annexes or accompanying instruments, and to clearly explain whether the identity-based and security-linked elements referenced by the United States form part of the agreement Nigeria actually signed or exist solely within foreign policy interpretations.
”Nigeria also deserve a clear explanation of how this agreement aligns with the Constitution and preserves Nigeria’s sovereign authority over its public policy choices,” the ADC adds.
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