The Senate has called for the immediate release of emergency funds to strengthen Nigeria’s preparedness against Ebola and other infectious diseases, while urging compulsory health screening for all international passengers entering the country.
The lawmakers also called for tighter surveillance at international airports, seaports and designated land borders to prevent the importation and spread of the deadly disease.
The resolutions followed a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by Senator Francis Faduyile, representing Ondo South, who warned that Nigeria must take proactive steps amid reports of an outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and its spread to other African countries.
The Senate urged the Federal Government to deploy emergency funding through the Service-Wide Votes to support agencies responsible for preventing and containing the disease.
Presenting the motion, Faduyile said the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) had assessed the risk of Ebola importation into Nigeria as high, requiring urgent and coordinated preventive action.
He recalled Nigeria’s experience in 2014, when an infected traveller arrived through Lagos airport, triggering an Ebola outbreak that tested the country’s disease surveillance and emergency response systems.
The senator warned that weaknesses in existing screening arrangements could expose Nigeria to another public health emergency.
He identified gaps in the current system, including the restriction of health declaration requirements to travellers from selected countries, inadequate staffing and equipment at some entry points, and the need to modernise the legal framework governing quarantine and public health protection.
Faduyile also expressed concern that an Ebola outbreak could further strain the nation’s healthcare system, which is already contending with diseases such as Lassa fever, cholera and diphtheria.
Under the resolutions, the Senate urged the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the NCDC and Port Health Services to enforce compulsory screening for all international passengers arriving in Nigeria.
The proposed measures include health declaration forms, temperature checks and assessments for symptoms associated with infectious diseases.
The lawmakers also recommended enhanced monitoring of passengers who had visited or transited through affected areas within the preceding 21 days, regardless of their nationality or country of departure.
They called for exit screening of departing passengers whenever a public health emergency is declared.
To strengthen implementation, the Senate urged the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the Nigeria Immigration Service to ensure that international entry points are adequately staffed and equipped.
The required facilities and supplies include trained Port Health officers, thermal scanners, personal protective equipment and isolation rooms for passengers suspected of carrying infectious diseases.
The chamber further called for the readiness of isolation and treatment centres across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to ensure a coordinated response should an outbreak occur.
Contributing to the debate, Senator Adamu Aliero, representing Kebbi Central, said many of the proposed measures were already being implemented by the relevant ministry.
He, however, stressed the need for sustained vigilance to prevent the disease from entering the country.
“Virtually all the prayers that have been canvassed, the ministry has started doing them,” Aliero said.
“We have to be very careful, let us do all we can to control this disease.”
The Senate Chief Whip, Tahir Monguno, representing Borno North, called for a review of the legal framework governing quarantine services, arguing that existing legislation must reflect contemporary public health challenges.
“There is the need for this parliament to amend the Quarantine Act of 1976 to bring it in tandem to existing realities,” Monguno said.
The motion also called for the replacement of outdated quarantine legislation with a modern legal framework aligned with the International Health Regulations (2005).
The Senate urged the Federal Government to provide adequate funding for the NCDC and Port Health Services in the 2027 budget and release outstanding funds owed to the agencies.
It also called for immediate emergency funding through the Service-Wide Votes to support government institutions involved in Ebola prevention, surveillance and containment.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio expressed concern over what he described as a lack of seriousness in the aviation sector’s response to the threat, warning that relevant agencies must act proactively.
“The nonchalance the aviation sector treated this, everybody must now wake up,” Akpabio said.
“We have to be proactive, everybody must take part. If it spreads, it will be a major problem. This is a medical emergency, a very deadly one.”
Akpabio stressed that preventing an outbreak required the collective commitment of government agencies and other stakeholders, warning that delays could have serious consequences for public health.
Also supporting the motion, Senator Ekong Samson, representing Akwa Ibom South, said the urgency of the situation underscored the need to strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare system.
“I want to pull my weight behind this motion because of its urgency, substance and importance,” Samson said.
“We have to take our healthcare system very serious, so we can protect ourselves.”
Similarly, Senator Sadiq Umar, representing Kwara North, advocated a coordinated response involving multiple government agencies to prevent the spread of the disease into Nigeria.
“Nigeria must not allow a single spread of Ebola, I think we should take this seriously,” Umar said.
“We need a multi-agency approach so we can tackle this.”
To ensure compliance, the Senate mandated its committees on Health, Primary Healthcare, Development and Disease Control, Aviation, Interior, and Appropriations to engage relevant agencies and inspect major international entry points.
The committees are expected to report their findings to the chamber within four weeks for further legislative action.
The Senate also directed its Committee on Legislative Compliance to monitor the implementation of the resolutions.
As part of wider preventive measures, the lawmakers urged Nigerians to maintain good hygiene practices, including ensuring the availability of hand sanitisers at event centres, educational institutions, private premises and other public places.
The resolutions place emergency funding, compulsory screening and inter-agency coordination at the centre of Nigeria’s efforts to guard against imported infectious diseases.
The lawmakers said strengthening surveillance and healthcare infrastructure before an outbreak occurs is critical to protecting public health and avoiding a crisis that could overwhelm the country’s response capacity.
