Permanent Secretary

Dr Mukhtar Yawale Muhammad, MFR, mni

A public health physician and medical epidemiologist, Permanent Secretary of the ministry since April 2026.

Dr Muhammad joined the Federal Civil Service as a medical officer in the Federal Ministry of Health and became a Director in 2021. He has also worked with Family Health International, the US Centers for Disease Control, the Global Fund, the World Health Organization and UNAIDS, on HIV epidemiology, surveillance and quality management.

During the COVID-19 pandemic he was National Incident Manager, then National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, leading the technical team behind testing, surveillance and isolation centres.

Before this appointment he was Director of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund, and Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy. He represents the North-West zone among the Federal Permanent Secretaries.

He holds an MBBS from the University of Maiduguri, a postgraduate diploma in epidemiology from the University of Liverpool, a Master's in Public Health from Ahmadu Bello University, a Master's in Legislative Studies from the University of Benin and an MBA from the University of Cumbria. He is an alumnus of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, and a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic.

Management