Niger Launches Agency To Regulate Private Healthcare Services

The Niger State Government has established the Niger State Private Health Facilities Agency (NISPHFA) to strengthen oversight of private healthcare providers and improve service delivery across the state.

Speaking at the inauguration of the agency in Minna, the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NISPHFA, Dr Abdullahi Suleiman, said the initiative was designed to enhance quality assurance, patient safety and regulatory compliance within the private health sector.

He said the agency would safeguard patients’ interests, raise operational standards and promote accountability among private healthcare providers in the state.

Suleiman explained that NISPHFA’s vision is to become Nigeria’s foremost health regulatory institution, driving a well-regulated, equitable and internationally benchmarked private healthcare system.

According to him, the agency has been empowered to register, regulate, monitor and assess all private health facilities operating in the state to ensure strict adherence to approved standards and guidelines.

He added that the agency will oversee licensing of private healthcare facilities, set benchmarks for staffing, infrastructure, equipment and service delivery, and conduct inspections, accredit facilities and enforce compliance where necessary.

Suleiman disclosed that registration guidelines covering 20 categories of private health facilities have already been developed, alongside the deployment of a digital registration platform.

He further said the agency had already engaged more than 1,000 private health facilities across the 25 local government areas of the state.

According to him, strategic collaborations have also been established with security agencies and other regulatory bodies to strengthen compliance and enforcement.

He assured operators in the private health sector that the agency would adopt a collaborative approach aimed at improving standards rather than functioning as an adversarial regulator.

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Murtala Bagana, described the establishment of the agency as a major step in the state government’s ongoing healthcare reform agenda.

Bagana said the agency reflects the ministry’s commitment to building strong institutions capable of safeguarding standards, protecting patients and ensuring access to safe and properly regulated healthcare services.

He explained that the initiative aligns with Governor Umaru Bago’s New Niger Agenda and the Ministry of Health’s THRIVE reform framework, which focuses on strengthening governance, improving infrastructure, enhancing accountability and expanding access to quality healthcare.

The commissioner noted that sustainable improvement in healthcare delivery depends on effective regulatory institutions capable of enforcing standards, ensuring quality and providing reliable data for decision-making.

He said the agency was created to address persistent challenges in the private healthcare sector, including fragmented regulation, poor data management, inconsistent enforcement of standards and weak integration of private providers into the broader health system.

Bagana added that the agency would play a key role in advancing Universal Health Coverage and strengthening the state’s healthcare delivery system.

Governor Umaru Bago, represented by the Head of Service, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq, said the establishment of NISPHFA demonstrates the administration’s commitment to building institutions that deliver tangible benefits to residents.

He described the agency as a key component of the New Niger Agenda and commended the Ministry of Health for driving reforms aimed at improving healthcare quality and patient safety.

The governor noted that the agency’s enabling law, enacted in 2025, places Niger among states implementing dedicated regulation of private healthcare facilities.

He also commended the agency for deploying a technology-driven registration platform and engaging extensively with private healthcare providers across the state.

Bago urged the agency’s management and staff to maintain professionalism, transparency and accountability in the discharge of their duties.