Posted on: Tue 21-07-2026

 

 Healthcare providers under the aegis of the Healthcare Providers’ Association of Nigeria have called on the National Assembly to withdraw the proposed National Health Facility Regulatory Agency Bill, 2025, warning that the legislation could increase healthcare costs, duplicate the functions of existing regulatory bodies and force private hospitals out of business.

The providers also cautioned that the proposed legislation could worsen Nigeria’s health workforce crisis by accelerating the migration of doctors, nurses and other health professionals abroad.

HCPAN members, including former and serving leaders of the association, made their position known at a press briefing in Lagos, where they strongly opposed the bill and vowed to use all democratic means available to prevent its passage.

The association, which represents private healthcare providers across the country, stressed that its opposition was not to healthcare regulation but to what it described as unnecessary duplication of statutory responsibilities already assigned to existing regulatory institutions.

The proposed NHFRA Bill, 2025, sponsored by Senator Samaila Kaila, representing Bauchi North Senatorial District, seeks to establish a national agency responsible for setting healthcare standards, accrediting health facilities and monitoring compliance across public and private institutions.

However, HCPAN members argued that several of these responsibilities are already being performed by established regulatory bodies, raising concerns about overlapping mandates, increased bureaucracy and additional financial burdens on healthcare providers and patients.

Addressing journalists, the HCPAN National President, Dr Austine Aipoh, urged lawmakers to reject the proposed agency and instead strengthen existing regulatory institutions and improve enforcement of current laws.

Aipoh warned that establishing another regulatory body could increase the cost of healthcare delivery and further weaken an already fragile private healthcare sector.

“It will encourage japa. It will lead to the closure of private health facilities due to multiple taxation and high operational costs. It will make the environment unattractive for private medical practice,” he said.

According to him, the proposed agency's powers to inspect, accredit, certify, monitor, investigate, sanction and enforce compliance across different categories of health facilities substantially overlap with the responsibilities of existing federal and state regulatory bodies.

He listed the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, state ministries of health and state hospitals management boards among institutions whose functions could be duplicated by the proposed agency.

Aipoh also expressed concern over the potential for overlapping inspection, licensing and accreditation processes, increased regulatory costs, higher healthcare bills, conflicts between federal and state regulatory authorities and an expansion of bureaucracy without clear evidence of improved patient outcomes.

He said HCPAN's position was based on the need to ensure effective regulation without creating overlapping statutory responsibilities.

“Our position is not based on opposition to regulation. Rather, it is founded on the need for efficient regulation without unnecessary duplication of statutory responsibilities,” he said.

Aipoh urged the National Assembly to prioritise adequate funding for the health sector and strengthen existing regulatory agencies rather than create additional institutions with overlapping mandates.

He said HCPAN remained willing to work with the National Assembly, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, state governments and other stakeholders to develop a coordinated and sustainable regulatory framework that would protect patients and improve healthcare delivery.

A former HCPAN President, Dr Jimmy Arigbabuwo, also rejected the bill, warning that it could drive private hospitals out of existence.

Arigbabuwo argued that the proposed legislation would impose additional burdens on private healthcare providers already struggling with rising operational costs.

He noted that private healthcare providers play a significant role in Nigeria's health system, with the Society for Family Health reporting that about 70 per cent of Nigerians access healthcare and related services through the private sector.

The healthcare provider also cited the rising cost of electricity and fuel as major challenges confronting private hospitals. Members of the Association of Nigerian Private Medical Practitioners, Lagos State chapter, had previously raised concerns that energy costs alone accounted for about 40 per cent of their operational expenses.

Arigbabuwo said healthcare providers were not opposed to regulation but feared that the proposed legislation would impose additional costs on providers and patients without necessarily improving health outcomes.

“This bill is about to regulate us into extinction. There is a bill that will regulate you to survive; this one is to regulate you into extinction,” he said.

He further alleged that the proposed legislation was primarily aimed at generating revenue for government, warning that patients would ultimately bear the financial burden through higher healthcare costs.

“The patients will bear the brunt, and more nurses and doctors will be attacked by patients because of rising medical bills. We don’t have a providers’ charter. It will further worsen brain drain,” he said.

Also speaking, a former National President of the Association of Nigerian Private Medical Practitioners, Dr Kayode Adesola, said he had opposed the establishment of the proposed agency from the outset.

Adesola argued that the bill would disproportionately affect private hospitals and further increase the cost of healthcare services.

“Whatever regulations they are making are targeted at private hospitals. From the beginning, we have warned and fought against this bill because it is not in the interest of patients. It will worsen the challenges faced by private hospitals and increase the cost of healthcare,” he said.

He called on private healthcare providers across the country to remain united in opposing the bill, arguing that a coordinated response would make it more difficult for the legislation to be passed.

Adesola also appealed to healthcare providers to sustain their opposition in the interest of Nigerians who are already struggling to afford essential medical services.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter, Tolulope Ajayi, urged the National Assembly to strengthen existing regulatory institutions instead of establishing another agency.

Ajayi identified inadequate funding, manpower shortages and weak digital systems as some of the major challenges undermining effective healthcare regulation.

“The major problems are poor funding, inadequate manpower and weak digital systems. Address these issues, and the effectiveness of regulation will improve. Creating another agency will only complicate the system and waste scarce resources,” he said.

The healthcare providers urged lawmakers to review the proposed legislation comprehensively and engage relevant stakeholders before taking further steps towards its passage.

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