Oyintiloye Urges Tinubu to Enforce Drug Price Order, Commends Dialysis Subsidy

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, Mr. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has called on President Bola Tinubu to ensure the strict enforcement of his executive order aimed at reducing the prices of essential medical consumables across the country.

Speaking with journalists on Sunday in Osogbo, Oyintiloye, who served as a member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council, noted that despite the directive issued in June 2024, many life-saving drugs remain unaffordable for ordinary Nigerians.

The executive order, designed to ease the financial burden of patients, removed tariffs, excise duties and value-added tax on specified machinery, equipment and raw materials to cut production costs and boost the competitiveness of local pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Oyintiloye pointed out that while the Nigeria Customs Service confirmed in March 2025 that it had begun implementing the order, the expected reduction in medicine prices has not materialised for many critical drugs.

According to him, medicines such as insulin, metformin and exforge still sell at very high rates. Although some, like Augmentin and Ventolin inhalers, have recorded slight reductions, overall drug prices remain burdensome.

“I want to appeal to the President to see to the implementation of his executive order on drug prices for the benefit of Nigerians. There is no doubt that the President is doing everything within his power to provide quality healthcare delivery, and I am optimistic he will act on this,” Oyintiloye said.

The APC chieftain, however, commended Tinubu for subsidising the cost of kidney dialysis in federal hospitals, describing the move as a significant relief for Nigerians battling kidney disease.

He said the reduction of dialysis costs from an average of ₦50,000 per session to a subsidised rate of ₦12,000 was a clear demonstration of the administration’s commitment to improving healthcare access.

“The President must be commended for this gesture. It shows he is passionate about the well-being of Nigerians. What is left is to replicate the same commitment by ensuring medicines are affordable,” he added.

Oyintiloye urged Nigerians to support the administration’s health sector reforms, stressing that the combination of drug price control and dialysis subsidy reflected a broader effort to ease the country’s healthcare challenges.

Punch