Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, has transmitted 24 health sector bills to the Senate for consideration, signalling a sweeping attempt to restructure governance across the country’s healthcare institutions.
The proposed legislation was conveyed in a letter to the upper chamber and read at plenary by the Senate president, Godswill Akpabio, in line with section 58(2) of the 1999 constitution.
Tinubu said the bills followed an extensive review of existing health laws conducted by the attorney general and minister of justice, in collaboration with the minister of health and social welfare, and subsequently approved by the federal executive council.
According to the president, the amendments are designed to streamline governance structures within health institutions by reducing what he described as over-bloated board memberships, with the aim of improving efficiency, effectiveness and service delivery in the sector.
The bills span a broad range of institutions and regulatory bodies, including tertiary and teaching hospitals, specialist hospitals, professional councils and oversight agencies.
Among the proposed amendments are those affecting the National Hospital for Women and Children, federal medical centres, the National Specialty Hospitals Management Board, orthopaedic hospitals, the National Eye Centre and the National Ear Care Centre. Others cover key professional and regulatory bodies such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and the National Blood Service Agency.
Tinubu also included new legislative proposals, including the Records Officers Registration and Digital Health Bill 2025 and the Federal College of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Bill 2025.
Expressing confidence in the legislature, the president urged the Senate to give the bills “careful and judicious consideration” in the interest of strengthening Nigeria’s health system.
After their formal reading, all 24 bills were referred by Akpabio to the Senate committee on rules and business for further legislative processing.
