The Federal Government had in a document dated April 1, 2026, by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, approved sweeping tariff adjustments across 127 product lines, including antimalarial medicaments now pegged at 20 per cent, as part of efforts to stimulate growth and ease the cost of critical imports.
Reacting to the development, the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Ayuba-Tanko Ibrahim, described the tariff cut as a positive step but cautioned that the gains would depend on complementary policy actions.
“A drop in duties on drugs and pharmaceutical products is quite laudable. In normal circumstances, this should signpost a drop in prices of these products and promote accessibility to drugs and healthcare, albeit legitimately.
“The PSN appreciates and commends the commitment of the federal government in the ensuing scenario,” he said.
He emphasised that more is needed to be done to sanitise the sector.
“It is noteworthy that the federal government must do a little more in terms of regulation and control of drug matters in Nigeria.
‘’Government must see a need for urgent intervention with a template akin to an all-purpose special vehicle that can help fix fundamental issues pertaining to local manufacture and drug prices.
“There is also a need to support local content in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, APIs, and vaccines availability to increase the contribution of the pharmaceutical sector to national GDP,,’’ said Ibrahim.
