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Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has called on Senate President Godswill Akpabio to halt further legislative action on the proposed National Health Facility Regulatory Agency (NHFRA) Bill, arguing that the legislation is unnecessary, duplicative and capable of disrupting the existing health regulatory framework.
In a petition addressed to the Senate President and signed by its National Chairman, Ambrose Ezeh, the association maintained that Nigeria already has adequate legal and institutional structures for regulating healthcare professions and facilities, making the proposed agency redundant.
ACPN traced the evolution of health facility regulation in Nigeria, noting that professional regulatory councils, including the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN), Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN), and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), already perform statutory regulatory functions assigned to them by Acts of the National Assembly.
According to the association, pharmacy practice occupies a unique constitutional position because drug matters fall under the Exclusive Legislative List, giving only the National Assembly powers to legislate on pharmacy and drug-related issues, while federal agencies enforce such laws.
The ACPN argued that the proposed NHFRA would create overlapping responsibilities with existing institutions and contradict provisions of the National Health Act 2014, particularly Section 1(1), which established a National Health System without prejudice to extant professional regulatory laws.
The association recalled that during the passage of the National Health Act in 2014, professional groups, including the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), successfully resisted provisions they believed would have subordinated other health professions to the medical profession.
It further alleged that the current NHFRA proposal revives similar concerns, pointing to provisions that reserve the office of the Director-General exclusively for medical doctors and claiming that the committee responsible for developing the bill was dominated almost entirely by physicians.
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The pharmacists warned that such arrangements would fuel mistrust among healthcare professionals and reverse the fragile industrial harmony achieved in the sector over the years.
Rather than creating a new regulatory agency, the ACPN urged the National Assembly to activate provisions of the National Health Act 2014 establishing a Tertiary Health Facility Commission to regulate federal tertiary health institutions, including teaching hospitals and federal medical centres.
The association described the absence of such a commission as the major gap in Nigeria’s health regulatory system, attributing the situation to the failure of the Federal Ministry of Health to fully implement existing provisions of the National Health Act.
It also expressed concern over the financial implications of establishing another federal agency at a time when government resources are constrained, urging authorities instead to strengthen funding for existing regulatory institutions such as the PCN, NAFDAC and other professional councils.
The ACPN maintained that the enabling Acts establishing these agencies remain specific laws that cannot be overridden by general legislation and warned that creating another regulatory body with similar responsibilities would amount to legislative duplication.
The association called on the National Assembly and the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to thoroughly review the proposed bill, insisting that preserving the current regulatory structure would better serve the national interest and prevent avoidable conflicts within the healthcare sector.
