Over 3m illegal pharmaceutical premises in Nigeria, PSN warns

-Calls for a stronger One Health Ecosystem

The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has raised the alarm over the increasing number of unregistered pharmaceutical outlets in the country, saying there are over three million such premises in Nigeria, which invariably increases the vulnerability of Nigerians to fake and adulterated medicines.

The society attributed the development to what it described as a wrong decision taken under the leadership of the late Olikoye Ransome-Kuti at the Federal Ministry of Health, which delegated the issuance of Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors’ (PPMV) licences to Local Government Areas. This implied that Nigeria had 774 licensing authorities for the issuance of PPMV licences at the time.

The Chairman, Lagos State Chapter of the PSN, Pharm. (Chief) Olaitan Ogunlade, raised this concern at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Pharmacy Scientific Week of the association, holding from 18 to 22 August at the Detutu Event Centre, Ogudu, Lagos.

Ogunlade, who pointed out the genesis of the proliferation of these illegal premises, said, “This remains the foundation for the explosion of unregistered pharmaceutical premises in Nigeria, now estimated to be over three million, with less than 50,000 registered premises in Nigeria, inclusive of manufacturers, importers, distributors, retailers and PPMV licence holders.”

To rectify this negative development, Ogunlade called on the leadership of the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) to immediately inaugurate the Pharmacy Council Governing Board in alignment with the existing PCN Act, as the government has done with some sister regulatory councils in the health sector in recent days.

“The PSN (Lagos State), on behalf of pharmacists, calls on the FMOH to immediately inaugurate the PCN in alignment with the existing PCN Act, like the government has done with some sister regulatory councils in health in recent days,” he stated.

He buttressed the need to incorporate more professionals into the PCN Governing Council, while condemning the present composition of the board, which, he said, involved an overwhelming majority of community stakeholders to the detriment of professionals with the expertise and legitimacy to regulate professional responsibilities.

He said such a composition exposes Nigerians and makes them susceptible and vulnerable to practices that compromise Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP), a global benchmark that defines pharmaceutical excellence.

According to the PSN chairman, it is appropriate that the membership of the PCN Governing Council should include an experienced chairman, with members drawn from the PSN, including registered pharmacists, academia and directors of pharmaceutical services. He said this group, apart from the expertise they bring, sustains the PCN financially through substantial payments for various categories of licence fees.

He added that representatives of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the PCN Registrar/CEO, the Director-General of NAFDAC and representatives of pharmacy technicians should also be included in the PCN Governing Council.

Delivering the keynote address, which centred on the theme of the conference, “One Health, One Pharmacy, Connecting Sectors, Transforming Health,” Pharm. Babashehu Ahmed charged all pharmacists to play critical roles in ensuring the attainment of One Health and One Pharmacy, where every stakeholder works consciously to promote a healthy ecosystem and achieve good patient outcomes.

The PCN Registrar, who vividly demonstrated the interconnectivity of the health ecosystem, said the issue was not about pharmacists alone, but involved medical doctors, veterinary doctors, the agricultural sector, climate change, antimicrobial resistance and the food value chain.

He said all stakeholders must accept responsibility for making One Health a reality. He also warned that if all hands were not on deck to make a healthy ecosystem a reality, it would be very difficult to curb a crisis once it erupted.

“The fact is that when the crisis happens, it is one crisis. It will not stop in Lagos. Neither will it stop in Niger State, where I come from. Nor will it stop in Abuja, where the President sits. It’s going to be one crisis. And that is why we must all be concerned.

“And when it comes, of course, it’s going to affect so many people. We are in many phases. And this could come from a pandemic. It could also come from climate disruption. It could come from unsafe food. Antimicrobial resistance are converging into a single interconnected challenge. And not a single sector holds the answer alone.

“Pandemics, they are outbreaks that are crossing geographical borders. And this was why I spoke to sectoral boundaries earlier, and once it happens, it will not look at where you sit.”

Ahmed further emphasised that, irrespective of one’s professional, social or political class, there are no boundaries in a crisis, which explains the need for stakeholders to be proactive about One Health in Nigeria.