CEmONC IN NIGERIA: FROM ABUJA TO KANO
EDITION 3
In Edition 2, we examined who can benefit from free CEmONC care and whether all CEmONC services in Nigeria are provided free of charge.
Our investigation now moves to another important question:
What exactly does the government’s CEmONC programme cover?
Under the NHIA’s Financing Access to CEmONC intervention, the Federal Government provides free emergency obstetric care, including Caesarean sections, for vulnerable pregnant women through participating healthcare facilities.
However, an important distinction must be made:
Not every CEmONC service in Nigeria is automatically free simply because it is classified as CEmONC.
The programme operates through healthcare facilities that have been empanelled by the NHIA. The Authority has also published documents covering facility empanelment criteria, claims and payment procedures, and the programme’s Scope of Coverage.
As of August 2026, the NHIA reported that 273 CEmONC facilities had been empanelled under the programme.
This raises important questions:
Which emergency services are covered under the programme?
Which services or costs are not included?
Who qualifies as a beneficiary?
Which hospitals are participating?
And what happens when a woman seeks emergency care at a facility that is not part of the programme?
These are questions Alfijir News will not answer through assumptions.
We will seek clarification directly from the NHIA and the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
IN EDITION 4
We will examine the list of NHIA-empanelled CEmONC facilities and identify those participating in the programme in Kano State.
From there, our investigation will begin moving from Abuja to Kano.
ALFIJIR NEWS
Truth • Timely • Trusted
SOURCES:
National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA)
Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare