Senate has begun legislative work on a far-reaching bill that seeks to significantly strengthen the powers of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), positioning the agency to regulate emerging health technologies, enforce stricter product safety standards and respond more effectively to evolving public health threats.

The proposed legislation, sponsored by Senator Suleiman Sadiq, passed second reading yesterday and seeks to repeal the Food, Drug and Related Products (Registration, Etc.) Act and the Food and Drug Act, replacing them with a single, modern legal framework for regulating food, medicines, medical devices, and other products that can affect public health.

Leading debate on the bill, Sadiq argued that Nigeria’s existing food and drug laws, enacted several decades ago, have become outdated and are no longer adequate to address the realities of modern healthcare, pharmaceutical innovation and increasingly complex global supply chains.

He said advances in biotechnology, artificial intelligence-assisted diagnostics, in vitro diagnostic technologies, online pharmaceutical commerce and cross-border trade have created regulatory gaps that require urgent legislative intervention.

According to him, the bill would establish a comprehensive statutory regime governing all products regulated by NAFDAC by harmonising existing laws, eliminating obsolete provisions and equipping the agency with legal tools to address emerging regulatory challenges.

“The health of a nation is one of the greatest measures of its development. Every government owes its citizens the fundamental responsibility of ensuring that the food they consume is safe, the medicines they rely upon are genuine and effective, and that medical devices used in healthcare are fit for purpose,” Sadiq said.

Unlike the current legal framework, which focuses largely on food, drugs, cosmetics and medical devices, the proposed law expands the scope of products under NAFDAC’s oversight to include processed and packaged foods, processed animal feeds, active pharmaceutical ingredients, vaccines, in vitro diagnostic devices, tobacco products, chemicals, packaged water, home-care products and other products with implications for public health.

The bill also broadens the agency’s regulatory powers by introducing detailed provisions for product evaluation before registration, post-market surveillance, continuous safety monitoring throughout a product’s lifecycle, supply chain traceability, mandatory product recalls and stronger inspection mechanisms.

The Senate also yesterday passed a bill seeking to repeal and re-enact the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) Act, paving the way for the regulatory agency to be renamed the Insurance Regulatory Commission (IRC) as part of broader reforms aimed at modernising Nigeria’s insurance regulatory framework.

The legislation, titled the Insurance Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2026, was passed after lawmakers considered and adopted the report of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions.

Presenting the report, the committee’s Chairman, Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru (APC, Lagos East), said the existing National Insurance Commission Act of 1997 had become obsolete and no longer reflected the realities of Nigeria’s evolving insurance industry or international regulatory standards.

According to him, the proposed legislation is designed to strengthen the regulatory framework governing the insurance sector and enhance the Commission’s capacity to supervise operators effectively.

Abiru explained that the decision to rename the agency from the National Insurance Commission to the Insurance Regulatory Commission was intended to eliminate ambiguity surrounding its current designation and more accurately reflect its statutory role as the industry’s principal regulator.

He noted that the bill would strengthen the Commission’s operational independence by empowering it to make regulatory decisions without undue interference while enhancing its authority to issue regulations, standards, guidelines and directives for the insurance industry.

MEANWHILE, the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions also yesterday cleared the nomination of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor for Financial System Stability, Lamido Yuguda, for appointment as Chairman of the Board of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), dispensing with a formal screening and allowing him to “take a bow and go.”

The committee, chaired by Senator Mukhail Abiru (Lagos East), adopted the long-standing Senate practice of exempting nominees who have previously undergone legislative screening from another exhaustive round of screening.

Presenting the nominee, the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Basheer Lado, said Yuguda’s nomination was in compliance with Section 10(1)(a) of the AMCON (Establishment) Act, 2019, as amended.

He reminded lawmakers that Yuguda had previously appeared before the Senate on several occasions for screening into other public offices.

Abiru also noted that the nominee had been screened by the committee in the past, including for his appointment as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Following the remarks, former Abia State Governor and Senator representing Abia North, Orji Uzor Kalu, moved a motion that the nominee be allowed to take a bow and go.

Kalu said President Bola Tinubu’s repeated appointments of Yuguda to strategic national positions demonstrated the confidence reposed in his competence.

The motion was seconded by Senator Mohammed Sani Musa (Niger East), and was unanimously adopted by the committee members via a voice vote.