Court jails illegal pharmacy operators as PSN raises alarm over fake drug crisis

… Hails landmark judgments

By Chioma Obinna

The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) praised two recent Federal High Court decisions that convicted operators of illegal pharmaceutical facilities. The society described the rulings as a significant advance in the fight against counterfeit drugs and unlicensed pharmacy practices in Nigeria.

According to the PSN, the judgments delivered by the Federal High Courts in Ibadan and Calabar reinforce pharmacy law and send a clear warning to operators of unlicensed drug premises across the country.

In a press statement signed by its president, Pharm. Ayuba Ibrahim Tanko, FPSN, the society commended the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) for maintaining enforcement actions against illegal drug operators amid growing challenges in the sector.

The PSN noted that the Federal High Court in Ibadan, on 26 May 2026, sentenced an unregistered operator of a patent medicine shop. A separate ruling by the Federal High Court in Calabar jailed the operator of an unregistered pharmacy together with three others for running an unlicensed pharmaceutical premises and employing unqualified personnel to dispense drugs.

The society called the judgments “historic,” arguing that they will strengthen public confidence in efforts to clean up Nigeria’s drug distribution system.

“The PSN finds it extremely important to applaud recent impressive judicial pronouncements which enhance pharmacy jurisprudence,” said President Tanko.

He warned that many illegal operators falsely claim to have received healthcare training in private hospitals and pharmacies, thereby endangering public safety through unlawful drug dispensing practices.

Such activities violate several provisions of Nigeria’s pharmacy and drug laws, including the Fake Drug Act, which criminalises possession and sale of counterfeit drugs and the sale of medicines in unauthorised locations such as markets, kiosks, motor parks and other unapproved premises.

“Section 2.2 of the Fake Drug Act is very unambiguous that the appropriate licensing authority is the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria,” he said.

President Tanko also raised concerns about what he described as widespread regulatory abuse in Cross River and Akwa Ibom states. He alleged that some groups, with the backing of certain government officials, had unlawfully assumed powers to register pharmaceutical facilities in violation of the PCN Act 2022.

“The situation in Cross River and Akwa‑Ibom States stinks to the high heavens because in recent years an obsessed group of miscreants have assumed regulatory powers,” he alleged.

Tanko argued that weak enforcement and inadequate penalties under existing laws have encouraged the proliferation of illegal pharmaceutical premises nationwide.

He stated that while Nigeria currently has fewer than 50,000 registered pharmaceutical premises, unregistered outlets are estimated to exceed three million across the country.

The PSN also stressed that drug regulation falls under the Exclusive Legislative List because of its strategic importance to national health security.

“Drug matters remain an item on the executive list because of the sensitivity and strategic nature of drugs in the healthcare value chain,” the society said.

The PSN reiterated that every pharmaceutical premise, including hospital pharmacies, must be directly supervised by a superintendent pharmacist in line with provisions of the PCN Act 2022.

According to the PSN, superintendent pharmacists play critical roles in ensuring regulatory compliance, safe drug sourcing, patient counselling, staff supervision, inventory management and quality assurance.

The body warned public and private health institutions against allowing non‑pharmacy departments to stock and dispense drugs unlawfully.

It also called on the National Assembly to urgently amend the Fake Drug Act to impose stricter penalties on offenders.

Tanko said, “Those who pervert the PCN Act 2022 and Section 2 of the Fake Drug Act in private and public facilities must be made to face justice.”

The PSN maintained that stronger regulation and stricter enforcement are essential to tackling counterfeit drugs, protecting patients and restoring order in Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector.

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