Ninety-seven per cent of primary healthcare centres assessed across 16 Nigerian states failed to meet the national minimum staffing requirement, a new report by Orodata Science and Civic Tech has found.
The PHC Operational Capability Report assessed 1,480 facilities in 277 local government areas across the six geopolitical zones between October 2023 and June 2025.
Using the CheckMyPHC Digital Scorecard, the assessment examined staffing, infrastructure, equipment, electricity, water supply and accessibility.
Only three per cent of the facilities met the staffing benchmark, while 11 of the 16 states had no assessed PHC that satisfied the requirement. About 75 per cent of the facilities were in rural communities.
Infrastructure and utility gaps were also widespread. Forty per cent of the facilities had damaged ceilings or leaking roofs, 38 per cent lacked electricity and 39 per cent relied on unsafe water sources.
The report found that 75 per cent lacked essential neonatal resuscitation equipment needed to respond to newborn emergencies during childbirth.
It also found accessibility gaps in 66 per cent of the facilities, leaving persons with disabilities and people with mobility challenges without adequate provisions.
Orodata said the deficiencies often overlapped, increasing risks to patients and adding pressure on already limited health workers.
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The assessment further showed that 51 per cent of community members surveyed rated services at their local PHCs as poor.
Kano and Sokoto recorded particularly serious gaps in safe water, electricity and newborn-care equipment, while 80 per cent of the facilities assessed in Gombe lacked accessibility provisions.
The findings come amid efforts to upgrade Nigeria’s primary healthcare network. By June 2025, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency had reported 1,163 PHCs meeting its revitalisation standards, with another 2,774 at various stages of upgrade.
Orodata called for facility-specific intervention plans, measurable targets and regular monitoring, rather than isolated renovation projects.
It urged authorities to repair damaged structures, provide safe water and reliable power, and deploy solar or hybrid systems where grid electricity is inadequate.
The organisation also called for stronger recruitment, deployment and retention of health workers, particularly in underserved communities, and adequate neonatal resuscitation equipment in PHCs offering delivery services.
The assessment combined facility inspections, direct observation, interviews with health workers and community members, photographic evidence, GPS data and facility records.
Orodata said the resulting evidence should guide government spending and intervention, with progress measured by whether PHCs become adequately staffed, properly equipped, accessible and functional.