Health Insurance: Tinubu Issues Fresh Orders to Agencies

• President Bola Tinubu has directed the SGF to tell the MDAs in a service-wide circular to mandate their staff to comply and enrol in the national health insurance scheme
• Bayo Onanuga, the spokesperson to the president, announced the directive in a statement on Wednesday, September 3
• President Tinubu also called for a closer, further and constructive engagement with the private sector on the new law so that businesses will not be constrained unduly

President Bola Tinubu has told the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) to write a service-wide circular to all the federal ministries, extra-ministerial departments, and agencies (MDAs) and mandate them on their health insurance in compliance with the National Health Insurance Act, 2022.

The president also called for a closer, further and constructive engagement with the private sector on the new law so that businesses will not be constrained unduly.

President Tinubu's directive on health insurance

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This was disclosed in a statement by President Tinubu's special adviser on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who noted that the directives cover five key areas. These areas are:

1. The first directive is that the employees of the MDAs must be enrolled in the health insurance plan of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA). The MDAs can take up coverage of supplementary private insurance in line with the NHIA Act.
2. A valid NHIA-issued Health Insurance Certificate must be presented by all those participating in the public procurement. This was part of the requirement for eligibility.
3. The certificate will confirm compliance with the mandatory health insurance requirement. It will serve as precedent to continue "any procurement-related engagement."
4. According to the statement, MDAs are compelled to require applicants to present NHIA Health Insurance Certificates that are valid. This will serve as a precondition to issue and renew licenses, permits and other approvals that need official stamps.
5. Also, the president directed the MDAs to develop internal procedures for verifying the authenticity of the Health Insurance Certificates that are submitted and help ensure consistent monitoring compliance.

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Read the full statement here:

Data of NHIA enrolment so far

Recently, the NHIA has been driving the adoption of health insurance in Nigeria, and so far, now has 20 million Nigerians enrolled in the scheme. The Director-General of NHIA, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, gave this update while speaking at a forum in Lagos.

Ohiri, who was represented by Acting Director, Lagos Regional office of the agency, Mrs. Aisha Abubakar Haruna, stated that this was a vast improvement from the 16.8 million reported in 2023.

Ohiri added that the NHIA has reached 99% of the 2027 target set by the presidency, with over 800,000 beneficiaries registered in May 2025. This brings the total registered in Nigeria up to 20.6 million.

FG commits to ensuring health financing for youths

In related news, the federal government has pledged to ensure that youths across Nigeria are protected from out-of-pocket spending when accessing healthcare services.

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Obinna Ebirim, the technical adviser to the Minister of Youth and Development, said this at the launch and stakeholders’ dialogue on youth health financing in Abuja, attended by Legit.ng.

This was in response to a report from the Development Education Network (DEAN Initiative), in partnership with the Government of Ireland, showing that most young people, especially the unemployed, are uninsured.

Source: Legit.ng