Keypoints
- The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Kwara Chapter, has officially lauded President Bola Tinubu for approving tax waivers for the pharmaceutical sector.
- The two-year tax relief is designed to lower the cost of importing Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and finished drugs, which have been hit hard by high exchange rates.
- Mr. Abdulmalik Baba, the Kwara PSN Chairman, predicted that the policy will lead to a significant reduction in medicine costs for consumers nationwide.
- Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq was also commended for implementing the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) to keep pharmacists in the state civil service.
- Professional harmony was highlighted, with Baba noting that pharmacists and doctors in Kwara maintain a collaborative relationship, contrary to tensions seen in other regions.
Main Story
Relief may finally be on the way for Nigerians struggling with the skyrocketing costs of essential medicines. On Sunday, April 19, 2026, the Chairman of the PSN in Kwara, Mr. Abdulmalik Baba, expressed strong optimism following the federal government’s decision to grant a two-year tax waiver to the pharmaceutical industry.
The move targets the high cost of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) the raw materials needed to make drugs which have become nearly unaffordable due to the current foreign exchange volatility.
Beyond the federal intervention, the local pharmaceutical community is also celebrating state-level reforms.
According to Baba, the “Japa” syndrome, the mass emigration of healthcare workers has been slowed in Kwara thanks to Governor AbdulRazaq’s decision to align the salaries of state pharmacists with their federal counterparts.
By improving welfare and fostering a respectful working relationship between doctors and pharmacists, the state is positioning itself as a stable hub for healthcare professionals.
The Issues
The primary challenge is the “price-lag” gap; while tax waivers reduce costs for manufacturers and importers, it often takes several months for those savings to reach the shelves of local pharmacies.
Authorities must solve the problem of market monitoring, ensuring that middlemen do not pocket the tax savings rather than passing them on to sick patients. Furthermore, there is a raw-material-dependency risk; as long as Nigeria imports the vast majority of its APIs, the local drug market will always be vulnerable to global currency fluctuations regardless of tax breaks.
To succeed, the PSN and the government must work toward the National Tier-1 manufacturing goal, which aims to produce these ingredients locally within Nigeria.
What’s Being Said
- “With this waiver, we expect a drastic price reduction… it will improve access to essential medicines,” stated Mr. Abdulmalik Baba, Chairman of PSN Kwara.
What’s Next
- A price survey by the PSN and regulatory bodies is expected in the coming weeks to track the impact of the tax waiver on retail drug costs.
- Implementation of the tax relief will likely see a surge in the importation of critical APIs that have been in short supply.
- State-level healthcare recruitment in Kwara may increase now that the improved salary structure is officially in place.
- A national pharmaceutical summit is anticipated later this year to discuss how to move from tax waivers to full-scale local API production.
Bottom Line
President Tinubu’s tax waiver is a much-needed “oxygen mask” for a sector that was suffocating under high costs. In Kwara, the combination of federal tax breaks and state salary reforms is creating a rare moment of stability for both the people who make the medicine and the people who need it.
