Soludo asks pharmacists to help fight fake drugs in Anambra
- Governor Chukwuma Soludo opened the 99th PSN conference in Awka on Tuesday.
- He urged pharmacists to help shut down fake drug sellers and unlicensed medicine shops.
- Soludo said Anambra's pharmaceutical hub in Oba and a wholesale centre are coming early next year.
Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo has called on pharmacists to work with his government to fight counterfeit medicines and shops that sell drugs without a licence.
Soludo spoke on Tuesday in Awka while opening the 99th Annual National Conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), tagged Ijele 2026. The theme was “One Health, One Pharmacy: Bridging Knowledge, Practice and Policy for National Impact.”
He asked the PSN leadership to help police its members and to join the state in cracking down on fake and counterfeit drugs. He also urged the body to help remove fake shops posing as registered pharmacies.
The governor described Anambra as “Nigeria’s pharmaceutical headquarters” and said pharmacists are key to a healthy, productive society.
Why it matters to ordinary Nigerians
Fake and substandard medicines are a public health concern across Nigeria. A patient who buys a counterfeit drug may pay for treatment that does not work, and in serious cases the delay can cost a life. Unlicensed medicine shops also make it harder for people to know whether the person selling them drugs is trained.
Two agencies share the work of regulation. The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria regulates the training and practice of pharmacists and registers pharmacy premises, while the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) regulates medicines and other regulated products.
Soludo said his administration is building a pharmaceutical hub in Oba and a Coordinated Wholesale Centre, which he said should be completed early next year.
He also listed gains in education and health. Free schooling from kindergarten to secondary level has cut the state’s out-of-school children rate to 0.25 per cent, which he called the lowest in the country. On health, he said the state has provided free antenatal services to more than 250,000 women and carried out free caesarean operations. Vanguard put the figure at over 950, while Punch reported over 900.
PSN President Ayuba Tanko Ibrahim thanked Soludo for supporting the pharmacy profession and said hosting the conference in Anambra fulfilled a promise he made earlier. The society later gave Soludo an excellence award for his support for pharmacy practice in the state and beyond.
What happens next
The conference continues in Awka. The test of the partnership will be enforcement: whether the state and the PSN can actually close unlicensed drug shops and keep counterfeit medicines out of circulation. The Oba hub and wholesale centre are expected to be completed early next year, according to the governor.