The Senate has urged the Federal Government to release emergency funds from the Service-Wide Vote to strengthen measures against the Ebola outbreak and prevent it from spreading to Nigeria.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio also expressed concern over reported lapses in screening arrangements at the nation’s entry points.
He called for comprehensive checks on international travellers to prevent infected persons from entering the country undetected.
The resolutions followed consideration of a motion sponsored by Senator Francis Ade Faduyile (APC, Ondo South) calling for mandatory health screening at Nigeria’s international airports, seaports, and designated land borders.
Faduyile said reports of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and its spread to other countries required urgent preventive measures to protect Nigerians.
He called for compulsory health declaration forms, temperature checks, and symptom screening for all arriving international passengers, regardless of nationality or country of departure.
The senator also proposed enhanced screening for travellers who had visited or transited affected areas within the preceding 21 days, and exit screening during declared public health emergencies.
He urged the Federal Government to equip the nation’s entry points with trained port health officers, thermal scanners, protective equipment, and isolation facilities.
Faduyile further called for isolation and treatment centres to be ready across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He also urged the National Assembly to modernise the Quarantine Act of 1926 and ensure adequate funding for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and Port Health Services.
Seconding the motion, Senator Ekong Sampson (APC, Akwa Ibom South) described Ebola as a deadly disease requiring urgent intervention.
He warned that a single case, if not detected and contained promptly, could trigger wider transmission, stressing the need for Nigeria to strengthen its healthcare preparedness.
Senator Adamu Aliero (APC, Kebbi Central) said the Federal Ministry of Health had announced measures through the NCDC to address the threat.
However, he argued that the country could not afford to wait for the 2027 budget to provide the resources required to respond to the outbreak.
Aliero proposed that the Ministries of Finance and Budget and of Economic Planning make emergency funds available to the relevant agencies through the Service-Wide Vote.
He said that relying on a supplementary budget or implementing the 2027 budget could delay critical interventions.
The senator stressed that the immediate priority should be to provide the NCDC and Port Health Services with the resources needed to strengthen surveillance, screening and containment measures.
Adopting the motion, the Senate urged the Federal Government to release emergency funds through the relevant ministries to support efforts to prevent the spread of Ebola.
The lawmakers also called for enhanced screening of travellers who had visited or transited affected areas within the preceding 21 days, irrespective of nationality.
Speaking during the debate, Akpabio expressed concern about reports of a traveller entering Nigeria without adequate screening on arrival.
He said the reported incident raised questions about the effectiveness of existing screening arrangements at the country’s international entry points.
The Senate President recalled Nigeria’s experience during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, warning that failure to detect an infected traveller early could expose many people to the disease.
He stressed that screening should cover all arriving international passengers rather than focus exclusively on travellers coming directly from countries reporting infections.
Akpabio noted that travellers could pass through third countries before arriving in Nigeria, so authorities should adopt a comprehensive screening approach.
He also urged the Senate Committee on Judiciary to engage relevant health authorities immediately to review the Quarantine Act and determine the necessary amendments to strengthen the country’s response to public health emergencies.
The Senate called on Nigerians and relevant authorities to remain vigilant and support measures to prevent Ebola from spreading into the country.
