WELCOME & OPENING REMARKS:
OVERVIEW OF THE LEGISLATIVE NETWORK FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE (LNU) & THE 6TH ANNUAL LEGISLATIVE SUMMIT ON HEALTH
Host: Her Excellency, Distinguished Senator Ipalibo Harry Banigo
10th November 2025
Protocol:
It is with great honour, gratitude, and renewed optimism that I warmly welcome you all to the 6th Annual Legislative Summit on Health, convened under the auspices of the Legislative Network for Universal Health Coverage (LNU).
This year’s summit, themed “Building Responsive, Sustainable Health Systems: Leveraging Legislative Action for Digital Innovation, Human Capital, and Infrastructure for Universal Health Coverage (UHC),” reflects our collective commitment to building a health system that is equitable, accessible, innovative, and future-ready.
The convening of this 6th Summit continues the strong tradition of the 10th National Assembly, following the successful 5th Summit held last year, where we reaffirmed our resolve to improve stewardship and accountability for UHC.
Today, we gather again to consolidate that progress — to move from accountability to innovation, from vision to action, and from policy to sustainable impact.
Since the establishment of the Legislative Network for Universal Health Coverage, each summit has strengthened our institutional and political commitment to health reform.
The 5th Legislative Summit on Health, held in July 2024, marked a critical milestone for the 10th National Assembly. It renewed our national call for stewardship, accountability, and joint action between the legislature, the executive, and development partners under the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (HSRII).
This has led to strengthened coordination, improved fiscal prioritization for health, and renewed legislative commitment to the Universal Health Coverage agenda.
Building upon that foundation, the 6th Summit deepens our focus on resilience, innovation, and modernization of Nigeria’s health system — because achieving Universal Health Coverage requires not only adequate funding and sound policy but also a strong, adaptive system driven by innovation, knowledge, and collaboration.
Our collective commitment in the National Assembly to strengthen Nigeria’s health institutions continues to yield measurable results.
Under the leadership of the Senate Committee on Health and through the Legislative Network for Universal Health Coverage, targeted legislative actions have enhanced institutional coherence and accountability.
A clear example is the Senate’s intervention that secured the establishment of an additional Directorate for NAFDAC under the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation — a reform that has improved the Agency’s operational efficiency and regulatory oversight.
This effort contributed to a major national milestone. On 30th June 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that NAFDAC had maintained Maturity Level 3 (ML3) for the regulation of medicines and imported vaccines, following the closure of all critical recommendations.
Having first attained ML3 in 2022, this re-benchmarking reaffirms Nigeria’s capacity to sustain a strong and integrated regulatory framework. Notably, NAFDAC remains the first National Regulatory Authority in Africa to maintain this status.
This milestone exemplifies how strategic legislative engagement through the LNU continues to translate policy intent into measurable national outcomes — reinforcing the link between legislative action, system strengthening, and health sector transformation.
First Subtheme: Digital Health for a Future-Ready Health System
Strengthening Human Capital through Innovation and Data Intelligence
This theme challenges us to embrace the transformative power of technology in healthcare delivery. We must legislate and invest in digital platforms that connect communities, bridge service gaps, and improve health outcomes through real-time data and intelligence.
As outcomes, this summit seeks to catalyze:
- The development of a Legislative Framework for Digital Health Governance, aligned with Nigeria’s Data Protection and Cybersecurity Acts;
- A National Strategy for Digital Health Workforce Capacity, ensuring our health professionals are skilled and supported to adopt emerging technologies; and
- Stronger coordination for data-driven health planning and service integration across all levels of government, with the clear goal of building a health system that is innovative, inclusive, and digitally enabled for the future.
Second Subtheme: Innovating for Impact towards UHC
Legislative Pathways to a More Efficient, Sustainable Domestic Health Financing
This subtheme addresses one of the most enduring challenges in our health sector — sustainable financing.
The legislature remains resolute in expanding the fiscal space for health, ensuring efficient resource utilization, and promoting greater accountability in expenditure through robust oversight.
In this regard, the 10th National Assembly, through its Joint Committees on Health, continues to advance key priorities, including:
- Strengthening the National Health Insurance Authority Act to accelerate universal enrollment and extend protection to vulnerable populations. In pursuit of this, the National Assembly has made deliberate appropriations to the Vulnerable Group Fund, ensuring that indigent Nigerians are covered within the National Health Insurance framework;
- Promoting innovative domestic resource mobilization mechanisms and advocating for the earmarking of revenues from health-focused levies — such as health taxes and the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax — to sustainably finance essential health services and strengthen public health systems; and
- Enhancing results-oriented oversight frameworks to ensure that every health allocation delivers measurable outcomes at both the national and subnational levels.
These legislative efforts are being mirrored at the subnational level, where some state assemblies have adopted creative financing approaches aligned with the national vision.
For example, some states have amended their gaming and lottery laws to dedicate a portion of the proceeds to support primary healthcare delivery and health insurance coverage for vulnerable groups.
Such subnational innovations reflect the growing synergy between the federal and state legislatures, demonstrating a shared resolve to mobilize sustainable domestic resources for health and to advance our collective aspiration for Universal Health Coverage across Nigeria.
The expected outcome is a sustainable, transparently financed health system that ensures value for money and equitable access for all Nigerians.
Third Subtheme: Powering Health Systems for Resilience
Ensuring Reliable Energy and Climate-Resilient Infrastructure for Universal Health Coverage
Healthcare cannot function without reliable infrastructure and energy. Many health facilities still operate under difficult conditions — with inconsistent electricity, poor water systems, and increasing vulnerability to climate-related disruptions.
Therefore, this summit aims to:
- Inspire legislative and policy measures that promote renewable and clean energy solutions in health facilities;
- Advance a National Framework for Climate-Resilient Power Infrastructure for Health, to ensure facilities are sustainable, safe, and environmentally responsible; and
- Strengthen inter-sectoral partnerships with the Ministries of Power, Works, and Environment to mainstream health infrastructure priorities in national planning.
Through this, we envision a health system that can withstand shocks, deliver services continuously, and safeguard the well-being of our people under all circumstances.
Sustaining the 10th Legislative Health Agenda, developed at the commencement of this Assembly, the National Assembly remains unwavering in its commitment to use legislative instruments to strengthen Nigeria’s health system. We are resolved to:
- Continue reforming health laws to align with national development priorities;
- Enhance appropriation and oversight functions for transparency and impact; and
- Support the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, its agencies, and state governments in achieving the goals of the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (HSRII).
We will also deepen collaboration with civil society, academia, and professional associations to ensure that our legislative interventions are informed by evidence, guided by equity, and responsive to the real needs of Nigerians.
In doing so, we reaffirm that achieving Universal Health Coverage is not a task for government alone but a shared national responsibility.
The journey towards Universal Health Coverage is one that requires sustained effort, innovation, and unity of purpose.
As we open this 6th Legislative Summit on Health, let us reaffirm our shared resolve to legislate for impact — to ensure that every law, every budget, and every oversight decision moves Nigeria closer to a health system that is resilient, efficient, and inclusive.
When we legislate for health, we legislate for hope, for productivity, and for the future of our nation.
On behalf of the National Assembly Joint Committee on Health and the Legislative Network for Universal Health Coverage (LNU), I warmly welcome you to the 6th Legislative Summit on Health and wish us all fruitful deliberations.
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