US-CDC: How AI-Powered Screening Device is Improving TB Diagnosis in Nigeria

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August 1, 2025
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Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The United States. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (US-CDC) has said that Nigeria is witnessing significant progress in the screening, detection and treatment of TB among the people living with HIV across the country.

The Centre said that of the 467,000 new TB cases reported in Nigeria in 2023, approximately 140,000 were among people living with HIV.

A Senior Programme Specialist at the US-CDC in Nigeria, Dr. Flora Nwagagbo, in her presentation at a Media Roundtable in Abuja titled: “Expanding the use of portable X-ray machines to improve tuberculosis diagnosis among PLHIV in Nigeria” said that Nigeria is currently making significant progress in screening for TB in people living with HIV across the country

She said the US-CDC is supporting the federal government in expanding the use of AI-enabled Portable Digital X-ray machines for the early detection of Tuberculosis, especially among people living with HIV.

She the intervention is helping Nigeria to expand the use of portable x-ray machines with artificial intelligence (AI) to improve screening for TB in people living with HIV.

“Systematic screening is an essential first step in TB diagnosis and treatment in eligible populations.

“For instance, in the area of early detection of TB and the start of treatment, the equipment can improve health outcomes and prevent severe complications and death,” she said.

According to Nwagagbo, screening is being carried out on people who are at higher risk of TB.

She added that screening may be conducted using portable chest X-ray with artificial intelligence (AI), or a recommended molecular rapid diagnostic tests, either alone or in combination.

“PDX machines are an effective tool for screening for TB, even when people do not show symptoms and can help diagnose TB in people living with HIV who face a unique diagnostic challenge with traditional TB tests because they may not have typical immune responses to the TB bacteria, making it harder to detect and diagnose,” she explained.

“AI-enabled x-ray for TB screening can supplement decision-making, potentially improving on human reader performance Increase the usability of chest X-rays for screening where there is a scarcity of trained human readers or no human readers.

“It can reduce reader variability and produces consistent results, thus saving time and resources needed for resolution when conflicting interpretations are provided”.

The Team Lead of the Programme Management Unit at the National Tuberculosis, Leprosy, and Buruli Ulcer Control Programme, Dr. Emperor Ubochioma, commended the CDC, the U.S. government, implementing partners, and the media for their support in Nigeria’s fight against TB and HIV.

Ubochioma, represented by the Programme Manager for TB at the NTBLCP, Dr. Shadrach Dimang, spoke of the importance of awareness and media involvement in dispelling myths and misinformation surrounding TB and HIV.

He said that breaking the cycle of transmission is key to addressing infectious diseases, adding that early diagnosis and treatment are most critical in dealing with diseases.

“The AI-aided PDX machines help to improve TB early detection in Nigeria, with their efficiency, objectivity, and ability to reduce human error in diagnosis, especially for difficult cases like those involving immunocompromised patients or children,” Ubochioma stated.

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August 25, 2025
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Atiku Abubakar: ADC Leading Potent Coalition, Will Shock the World in 2027

*’We will upstage the status quo in a way that will leave doubters dumbstruck’*Insists he will contest presidential election

*Disowns statement insinuating he may not run
*Says there’s nationwide degeneration, unprecedented thievery under current administration

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday vowed that despite efforts by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to ridicule and play down the current momentum in the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the coalition will shock the world in the 2027 presidential election.
Atiku also laid to rest insinuation that he might not contest the presidential poll two years from now, stressing that he will run for the nation’s top job in the next election cycle.
One of the politician’s spokespersons during the 2023 presidential election, Tunde Olusunle, disclosed this to THISDAY last night, quoting his ex-principal as maintaining that Nigeria needs to be decisively rescued from the ‘intensive care’ unit it has been consigned to under the Bola Tinubu government.
Atiku, until recently a prominent figure in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has often sought broad coalitions to strengthen his presidential bids. In that light, the ADC, a hitherto relatively smaller party has brought together some heavyweight politicians, positioning itself as a third-force alternative outside the dominance of the APC and PDP.
Besides, the former Nigeria’s number two man decried what he described as the unprecedented ‘thievery’ in the current administration, highlighting the need to ‘rescue’ the country from its current leaders.
He pointed out that the ADC will mobilise Nigerians to upstage the status quo in 2027, emphasising that he will be offering himself for election.
“The accompanying deceit, the loss of values, the mega-scale, unimpeded thievery and the absolute lack of accountability must disturb every concerned patriot. I will be offering myself to lead the reclamation and reconstruction of our traumatised homeland,” Olusunle quoted Atiku as having said, after conferring with him.
Atiku explained that the coalition which he is leading under the ADC is to galvanise popular support for the liberation of Nigeria, but said that a platform which was adopted just a few months ago cannot be expected to engender upsets in by-elections that just held.
“ADC is leading a potent mass movement which will shock the world. We will upstage the status quo in a way which will leave doubters dumbstruck,” he maintained.
In the same vein, contrary to recent reports to the effect that he may opt out of the 2027 presidential contest, the former Vice President Atiku restated that he will run for the nation’s top job.
However, apart from Atiku, ex-Anambra Governor, Peter Obi, and former Rivers Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, have made public their intentions to jostle for the ADC’s presidential ticket as part of a coalition of opposition figures seeking to challenge President Bola Tinubu at the polls in 2027.
While the former vice president has positioned himself as the most experienced hand, Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), has insisted he will not play a secondary role to anyone. Also, Amaechi, a former Minister Of Transportation, has hinted on plans to throw his hat into the ring.
But Atiku was quoted to have said at the weekend that his commitment to the evolution of a better Nigeria far outweighed his quest to be President. Prof Ola Olateju of the Achievers University, Owo, Ondo state, who represented him at the defection of several top political figures to ADC in Lagos, suggested that Atiku was not enamoured about occupying Aso Rock at all costs.
“Atiku Abubakar’s plan is to build a better Nigeria, it’s not about being President. It’s about establishing a government that works for Nigerians. That’s why some of us are with him, not because Atiku must be President at all costs,” Olateju was widely reported to have said at the event he stood in for Atiku.
But Olusunle stated that after reading the report from his holiday home in the United Arab Emirates, (UAE), Atiku disowned the statement, insisting that the message conveyed during the event was not sanctioned by him.
“I did not issue that statement,” he said. “When people stand in for me at events, we preview my thoughts on the instant subject and what my contribution or intervention will be, so we are on the same page. In this particular instance, there was no engagement with me to distill my thoughts. Prof Olateju was not speaking for me,” he stated.
The elder statesman added: “I will run in 2027. Nigeria needs to be decisively rescued from the intensive care unit it has been consigned. The degeneration in our country, the level of poverty and pain, the anguish, is unacceptable.”
Atiku’s statement is also coming as the presidency has often seized every opportunity to ridicule the ADC, claiming that the coalition only exists on paper and portraying it as inconsequential as well as lacking real electoral weight.

The post Atiku Abubakar: ADC Leading Potent Coalition, Will Shock the World in 2027 appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

*’We will upstage the status quo in a way that will leave doubters dumbstruck’*Insists he will contest presidential election *Disowns statement insinuating he may not run*Says there’s nationwide degeneration, unprecedented
The post Atiku Abubakar: ADC Leading Potent Coalition, Will Shock the World in 2027 appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

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August 25, 2025
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FAAC Reconciliation: NNPC, FIRS, Others Remit N1.49 Trillion Arrears to Federation in Six Months

*No agreement on $78.2m, N6.7tn outstanding payments yet

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Nigeria’s Federation Account received a major inflow of N1.49 trillion in the first half of 2025 from arrears reconciled and paid by the country’s revenue generating agencies, fresh data from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shown.
A report by the FAAC Post-Mortem Sub-Committee (PMSC), which reviews remittances from key agencies, indicated that the cumulative inflows into the Federation Account between January and June 2025 came from reconciled outstanding arrears previously owed by key agencies.
These included: The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and other statutory bodies.
According to the report seen by THISDAY, the total arrears inflows amounted to exactly N1,490,778,578,480.61 over the six-month period, averaging over N248 billion monthly and providing additional fiscal space for the government at a time of government’s mounting debt service obligations.
The figures released showed that in January 2025, reconciled arrears worth N367.37 billion were remitted to the Federation Account, the highest single-month inflow during the period. This was followed by N227.15 billion in February and N175.99 billion in March. In April, arrears payment rose to N259.85 billion, before dropping to N247.05 billion in May and N213.37 billion in June.
Specifically for June 2025, FAAC recorded a reconciled arrears payment of $41.07 million, equivalent to N213.37 billion at the official Central Bank exchange rate of N1528.705 as well as local currency reconciliation of N150.589 billion.
This payment included $5.19 million (N7.92 billion) from the FIRS in respect of Petroleum Profit Tax value arrears; $35.43 million (N54.15 billion) from NUPRC’s royalty value arrears, and $459,226 (N702.9 million) from NNPC joint venture outstanding royalty. The N150.59 billion came from NUPRC on other royalty receipts.
But while the N1.49 trillion inflows were welcomed as a boost to the Federation Account, the FAAC report warned that much larger sums remained outstanding.
At the inter-agency reconciliation meeting held in August 2025, additional outstanding amounts undergoing reconciliation were put at $78.23 million and another N1.72 trillion from FIRS/NNPC and another N2.32 trillion, to hit 6.75 trillion.
The bulk of this figure was attributed to the NNPC, which accounted for $11.24 million and N164.7billion, and NUPRC/NNPC jointly, which made up $66.99 million.
In the same vein, FIRS/NNPC reconciliation added N1.72 trillion, while other government agencies owed N2.03 trillion, to hit $78.2 million and N6.7 trillion, which had yet to be reconciled.
Beyond these, arrears of about N2.54 trillion from before June 2023 are still unresolved, the document showed. These older payments have now been referred to the Stakeholders Alignment Committee and the FAAC Sub-Committee for further reconciliation.
“Members should note that the above outstanding amounts are still being reconciled at the monthly reconciliation meetings between the agencies and the Sub-Committee.
“Furthermore, the sum of N2,535,352,533,190.87 outstanding payments from the revenue generating agencies before June, 2023, were referred to the Stakeholders Alignment Committee and the sub-committee awaits the outcome of the technical reconciliation meeting conveyed by the Ministry of Finance. All outstanding between January 2023 and December 2024 was taken to the Alignment Committee,” the report reiterated.
The reconciliation exercise is part of government efforts to improve accountability in the management of public finances and close loopholes in remittances by revenue generating agencies.
For years, FAAC allocations to the federal, state, and local governments have been undermined by remittances underpayments, with NNPC especially frequently accused by states and civil society groups of withholding funds or making delayed remittances.
In the past, FAAC meetings have ended in deadlock over disagreements about what NNPC declares as gross revenue and the deductions it made for subsidy, pipeline repairs, and joint venture obligations before passing the balance to the Federation Account.

The issue worsened in 2022 and 2023, when huge amounts were carried as unremitted arrears. The ongoing reconciliation exercise seeks to address those backlogs, ensuring that revenues due to the Federation are captured and distributed among the three tiers of government.

The post FAAC Reconciliation: NNPC, FIRS, Others Remit N1.49 Trillion Arrears to Federation in Six Months appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

*No agreement on $78.2m, N6.7tn outstanding payments yet Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Nigeria’s Federation Account received a major inflow of N1.49 trillion in the first half of 2025 from arrears
The post FAAC Reconciliation: NNPC, FIRS, Others Remit N1.49 Trillion Arrears to Federation in Six Months appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

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