The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria has asked the National Assembly to raise the penalty for manufacturing or distributing fake drugs from fines as low as N5,000 to a minimum of N25 million, with prison terms of up to 20 years. The society’s president, Ayuba Tanko Ibrahim, made the case at a press conference in Lagos on Monday, ahead of its 99th Annual National Conference in Awka, Anambra State.
The proposal targets the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, the law that governs the offence. Under the society’s submission to the Senate, offenders convicted under Section 1 would face a fine of at least N25 million or between five and 20 years in prison, or both. Those convicted under Section 2(1) would face a fine of not less than N25 million or at least 15 years in prison, or both. Assets traceable to the offence would also be forfeited.
Ibrahim said the current penalties are no deterrent. “How can you say somebody is caught faking drugs and pays a fine of N5,000 or N10,000? So it encourages them,” he said. He described counterfeiting as a business that will not disappear on its own, and argued that enforcement has to be matched with sanctions that make the risk unprofitable.
The scale of the problem gives the argument weight. The World Health Organisation estimates that one in 10 medicines in low and middle income countries is substandard or falsified. NAFDAC has put Nigeria’s figure at between 13 and 15 per cent, while the Association of Community Pharmacists has claimed it could be as high as 50 per cent, though that figure has not been established as a national prevalence rate.
Enforcement has produced results, but not at a pace that matches the trade. Between June 2025 and June 2026, NAFDAC destroyed counterfeit products worth more than N1.5 trillion and secured 64 convictions, with sentences ranging from one to seven years. In February 2026 alone, it seized more than 10 million doses of counterfeit malaria medicines and cosmetics worth about N3 billion at the Lagos Trade Fair Market. The Customs Service also handed over N9.23 billion worth of counterfeit pharmaceuticals to NAFDAC in 2025.
The society’s second demand is structural. It wants the Federal Government and states to fully implement the National Drug Distribution Guidelines approved in 2015, which require open drug markets to move into Coordinated Wholesale Centres. The guidelines cover Idumota in Lagos, Head Bridge in Onitsha, Sabon Gari in Kano and Ariaria in Aba in the first phase. Kano has commissioned the country’s first centre. Lagos is expected to deliver its private sector driven facility in the second quarter of 2027, while Anambra’s centre in Oba and Abia’s project are still being developed.
Ibrahim also pushed back against the idea that patients should bear the burden of detecting fakes. “It is not the job of a patient to check or confirm whether a drug is fake or not,” he said. “The pharmacist that showed the drug to him should be able to check if the drug is fake or not.” He urged Nigerians to buy from registered pharmacies and warned that unauthorised sales of antibiotics and other prescription medicines expose consumers to avoidable harm.
On prices, he argued that tariff waivers alone will not bring down the cost of medicines while manufacturers still pay heavily for diesel, electricity and transport. “Unless the government takes a holistic view of the drivers of the prices of pharmaceuticals, we are not going to see any appreciable decrease in the cost of drugs,” he said. The society’s national secretary, Gafar Madehein, added a caution on herbal products, noting that a NAFDAC listing number does not amount to clinical proof of safety or efficacy, and that combining herbal remedies with conventional medicines can cause harmful interactions.
The Senate bill, SB.951, has already passed a second reading with a proposed 15-year jail term for serious offences. The society’s submission goes further on some counts, including the 20-year ceiling. Whether the National Assembly adopts the higher figures, and whether enforcement agencies have the capacity to investigate and prosecute at that level, will determine if the new penalties change behaviour or simply sit on the statute book.