The Lagos State Branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has warned of a deepening healthcare crisis and urged President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in the sector.
In a valedictory address delivered at the association’s 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, the outgoing chairman, Babayemi Oyekunle, painted a grim picture of systemic dysfunction, professional marginalisation, and policy failures that, he argued, threaten to collapse Nigeria’s already fragile healthcare system.
Decrying what he described as entrenched bias within the Federal Ministry of Health, Oyekunle, in his speech, indicted the government for being inertia, reports Daily Independent.
He also lamented the accumulated years of unresolved disputes between physicians and non‑physician health professionals, including pharmacists, nurses, and laboratory scientists.
“The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Lagos State Branch calls on President Bola Tinubu to declare an emergency in the Health Sector,” Oyekunle declared.
“Failure to convincingly redress 2010 welfare packages, including adjustment of CONHESS, was deliberately jeopardised by the Federal Ministry of Health at the Presidential Committee on Salaries.”
CONHESS And CONMESS
At the centre of the controversy lies the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS), which governs remuneration for non‑physician professionals. According to Oyekunle, the Federal Ministry of Health has consistently refused to adjust CONHESS, despite repeated adjustments to the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CON‑ MESS), which applies to physicians.
He accused the Health Minister of insisting on a job evaluation before any adjustment could be made, a requirement he described as dis‑ criminatory.
Adjustments have been made at least three times on the CONMESS scale without job evaluation, he noted, highlighting what he sees as a deliberate double standard.
The PSN chairman further alleged that federal institutions have failed to implement benefit packages, including consultant cadre recognition for qualified professionals. Pharmacists, he said, remain particularly disadvantaged, with enabling circulars yet to be activated in over 40 federal institutions and in states such as Lagos.
He argued in his statement, “This is despite the reality that adjustments have been made at least three times on the CONMESS scale without job evaluation. On the prompting of medical grouping, the Federal Ministry of Health has refused to compel the Federal Health Institutions to fully implement benefit packages, including the Consultant Cadre for all deserving health professionals.
“For Pharmacists who have received full bureaucratic approval, the enabling circular is yet to be activated in over 40 Federal Health Institutions and in States like Lagos, where the Ministry of Health is led by extremely inexperienced health personnel who assume everything must be at the whims and caprices of their professions at public expense.”
Professional Marginalisation And Policy Bias
Oyekunle’s criticism extended beyond salaries. He accused the health sector leadership of systematically sidelining non‑physician professionals in decision‑making processes.
“A new normal of setting up all health templates on the disproportionate equation of physicians occupying over 95 percent of slots renders all other professional inputs irrelevant,” he said.
He cited recent committees established by the Ministry of Health where physicians dominated membership, leaving minimal representation for pharmacists, nurses, and other professionals. This imbalance, he argued, undermines team work and reduces the effectiveness of healthcare delivery.
His statement also reads, “A deliberate reckless disposition to enacting biased laws, policies and gazettes primarily targeted at both destroying as well as ensuring other health professions are made sub‑ servient to medicine. This includes promulgating a series of Universities of Medicine/Medical Sciences where only Physicians can emerge as Vice Chancellors contrary to common sense. “After critically evaluating the Health Sector malaise, which has gotten out of hands, the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Lagos State Branch encourages the larger coalition of health workers under the aegis of JOHE‑ SU to intensify its partnership with the organised labour centres.”
Call For Dialogue
The PSN Lagos chairman urged President Tinubu to convene a high‑level dialogue with key stakeholders, including the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), to resolve longstanding disputes.
He emphasised that inclusive engagement would be vital to developing sustainable reforms and building a mod‑ ern, effective healthcare system.
He added that the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo‑Olu, should adopt similar measures within the state’s health system.
Oyekunle suggested that protest rallies, organised in collaboration with civil society organisations and labour centres, could be used to highlight the issues facing the sector.
Such actions, he said, would draw national attention to pressing structural and administrative shortcomings.
His statement reads, “We strongly implore these groups to consider staging protest rallies in collaboration with Civil Society Organisations and other patriotic Nigerians to draw attention to the Pate-induced rot in the Health Sector. The Pharmaceutical Society (PSN) Lagos State Branch calls on President Bola Tinubu to declare an emergency in the Health Sector, while Governor Jide Sanwo-Olu, to re-enact the same in Lagos State where the Ministry of Health leadership has run out of ideas to build a modern healthcare team. President Tinubu should, as a matter of urgency, as a rider to the state of emergency in the health sector, schedule a dialogue with strategic stakeholders in the sector, especially the PSN and JOHESU,” he added.
Legislative Concerns: PCN And NAFDAC Under Threat
Beyond immediate welfare disputes, Oyekunle raised alarm over ongoing legislative proposals seeking amendments to the laws establishing the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). He warned that Executive Bills HB 2696 and HB 2707 must ensure balanced professional representation and adequate technical expertise on the governing boards of both agencies.
Oyekunle said, “Executive Bills seeking amendments to the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) Act (HB 2696) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Act (HB 2707) highlight the critical role of board composition in regulatory agencies.”
“In institutions such as PCN and NAFDAC, the board ensures objective regulation, professional discipline, public health protection and institutional stability, but a weakened or imbalanced composition risks compromising these essential objectives.”
He further stressed that regulatory boards play a crucial role in safeguarding public health through oversight, professional discipline, and institutional stability. Any restructuring, he argued, must reflect the diverse sectors within pharmacy practice, including community pharmacy, hospital and institution‑ al practice, the pharmaceutical industry, academia, and regulatory administration.
“The organised Pharmacy profession now respectfully calls on the National Assembly to ensure balanced representation in the PCN and NAFDAC boards, preserve regulatory independence, incorporate academic and sub‑cadre voices, and harmonise prescribing provisions with existing laws,” he said.
Historical Context: Pharmacy Regulation In Nigeria
Oyekunle traced the legislative history of pharmacy regulation in Nigeria to colonial ordinances dating back to the late nineteenth century. He cited the Pharmacy Ordinance of 1902 and the Pharmacists Act of 1964 as milestones that established the foundation for professional autonomy in the sector.
His statement reads, “An undue interference with the autonomy of Pharmacy practice is counter-productive, particularly given its deep legislative roots dating back to 1878 with the Lagos Pilotage and Harbour Ordinance, followed by the Hospital Ordinance of 1881 and Ereko Dispensary Rules of 1889.”
“Subsequent milestones included the Pharmacy Ordinance No. 8 of 1902, the Poisons and Pharmacy Ordinances of 1923, 1927, 1936 and 1958, and finally the Pharmacists Act No. 26 of 1964, which established comprehensive regulation and professional autonomy for over six de‑ cades.”
“This Act of Parliament laid the enabling foundation for professional autonomy of Pharmacy practice in Nigeria for over 60 years.”
Oyekunle insisted, “Nigeria’s healthcare regulatory framework must remain balanced, technically sound, future-ready and firmly anchored in the public interest to safeguard the integrity of the system.”
“The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria reaffirms its commitment to patient safety, medicine quality assurance, regulatory excellence and the strengthening of the national health system.”
