Stakeholders in Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector have raised fresh concerns over the country’s chaotic drug distribution system, warning that unless urgent reforms are implemented, the integrity of the medicine supply chain, and ultimately public health could remain compromised.
Speaking at the 2025 National Conference of the Pharmaceutical Wholesalers and Distributors Association of Nigeria (PWDAN), held recently in Lagos, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, called for urgent reforms in Nigeria’s pharmaceutical distribution system, warning that the current fragmented structure continues to threaten medicine quality, accessibility, and public health.
Speaking through Dr Regina Garba, deputy director, Post-Marketing Surveillance (Northwest), Adeyeye described the country’s medicine supply chain as vulnerable and in need of a professional, transparent, and coordinated framework.
. “Medicine security, in this regard, goes beyond availability,” she said. “It also encompasses quality, authenticity, and integrity. This is a strategic national imperative, and NAFDAC remains resolute in its mandate to safeguard public health through the effective regulation and control of medicines and allied products.”
She added: “To this end, NAFDAC has taken several important steps, including strengthening Good Distribution Practice (GDP) inspection guidelines, enhancing post-marketing surveillance and routine inspections, digitalising regulatory processes to improve efficiency, leveraging technology for real-time supply chain traceability, and promoting collaborative regulatory practices through stakeholder engagement,”.
Echoing similar concerns, Registrar of the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), Pharm. Ibrahim Babashehu Ahmed, noted that the country’s healthcare system is still undermined by multiple structural weaknesses — from forex instability to weak logistics infrastructure.
“PWDAN is now our baby,” Ahmed declared, throwing the council’s full weight behind the association as a trusted partner in the ongoing regulatory reforms.
Also speaking, Pharm. Ayuba Tanko Ibrahim, president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), urged every player in the pharmaceutical value chain to stick to their defined roles. “You cannot have manufacturers acting like retailers or distributors behaving like regulators — it breeds chaos,” he warned.
Industry veteran and former Fidson Healthcare MD, Dr Fidelis Ayebae, who chaired the occasion, lamented that Nigeria’s pharmaceutical supply structure remains largely chaotic. He advised stakeholders to embrace pooled procurement and shared logistics to counter market disadvantages and enhance efficiency.
In his remarks, the PWDAN National Chairman, Pharm. Ogheneochuko Omaruaye, said the association’s growing influence is proof that ethical wholesalers and distributors are ready to be part of the solution.
“Our goal is not just business. We’re focused on restoring order, professionalism, and accountability to how medicines are distributed in this country,” Omaruaye stressed.
He reiterated that only strong collaboration — not isolated efforts — can close the dangerous gaps in Nigeria’s medicine supply chain.
The keynote speaker, Pharm. Dennis Aizobu of SFH Access, added that pharmacists must become more visible in policy advocacy and not allow critical decisions to be made without their input.
“We’re not being heard enough. That has to change if we want to move forward,” he noted.
As Nigeria battles the dual threats of drug insecurity and regulatory lapses, stakeholders at the PWDAN conference agreed that integrating the nation’s wholesalers and distributors is no longer optional — it is the next necessary step toward safeguarding public health and achieving true medicine security
