Amid concerns over public health and safety, the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has cautioned the Federal Government against reducing the regulatory capacity of the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) in its cost-rationalisation efforts.

The society, in a position paper signed by its President, Ayuba Tanko, warned that weakening the Council’s professional composition could undermine medicine safety and the effective regulation of pharmacy practice.

It urged the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the National Assembly to preserve the technical and professional autonomy of the PCN while reforming its governance structure.

The PSN said the Council’s mandate was too critical to public safety to be subjected to an imbalanced governing structure, stressing that pharmacy regulation covered education, professional practice, inspection, enforcement and discipline.

It warned that undue interference with professional autonomy in pharmacy practice could prove counterproductive if regulatory structures were not properly designed.

According to the society, the proposed Council composition should include experienced professionals drawn from the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, academia, Directors of Pharmaceutical Services, pharmacy technicians, the Federal Ministry of Health, the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and the Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA).

The PSN said broad professional representation was necessary because the PCN regulates pharmacy education and training, accredits institutions, inspects pharmaceutical premises, enforces standards across the medicine supply chain and disciplines practitioners.

It warned that a reduced board without balanced stakeholder representation could weaken the Council’s statutory effectiveness. The society also opposed what it described as excessive public representation on the professional regulatory council, arguing that a proposal for six public representatives could dilute technical expertise and expose regulatory functions to political influence.

It, however, supported the principle of federal character, while calling for minimum competence requirements for public representatives in areas such as public health, law, finance and consumer protection.

The PSN stressed that professional regulatory councils must remain technically led in the interest of patient safety.

On academic representation, the society demanded a dedicated seat for a representative nominated by accredited Faculties and Colleges of Pharmacy through the Committee of Deans of Pharmacy (CODAPN), on a rotational basis.
It argued that universities provide the foundational training for pharmacists, while the PCN is responsible for accrediting training institutions, making academic representation essential to effective regulation.

The PSN also called for representation of pharmacy technicians, describing them as a regulated sub-cadre whose interests should be reflected in the Council’s governance.

Under its specific recommendations, the society demanded additional representation for the PSN, including a seat for its president, representatives of Directors of Pharmaceutical Services at the state level, accredited Faculties and Colleges of Pharmacy, and pharmacy technicians.

It further proposed that the Federal Ministry of Health representative should be a registered Pharmacist-Director, while representatives from NNMDA, NIPRD and NAFDAC should also be pharmacist-directors.

The society said the proposed structure would ensure professional majority, balanced sectoral representation, alignment with pharmacy education, regulatory competence and protection of the interests of regulated sub-cadres.
While acknowledging the Federal Government’s cost-rationalisation objective, the PSN warned against reducing regulatory capacity in the name of administrative efficiency.

It described professional regulation as “a public safety infrastructure, not merely an administrative overhead,” warning that weakening the regulatory architecture could increase long-term healthcare costs, expose the medicine supply chain to counterfeit and substandard products, and reduce enforcement capacity.

The society also called for the harmonisation of proposed amendments to health regulatory laws through cross-professional review mechanisms, consistent governance standards, harmonised scope-of-practice provisions and clearly defined jurisdictional boundaries.

It urged the Federal Ministry of Health and the National Assembly to preserve regulatory independence and technical leadership while incorporating appropriate academic and sub-cadre representation.

The PSN said its ultimate objective remained patient safety, medicine quality assurance, regulatory excellence and the strengthening of Nigeria’s health system.

It added that the country’s healthcare regulatory framework must remain balanced, technically sound, future-ready and driven by the public interest.