NIPHID bill won’t duplicate NCDC roles, acting CEO
June 30, 2026 12:57 pm
The Acting CEO, Dr. Dalhatu Abdullahi-Aminu.
The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the proposed National Institute for Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Zaria, Kaduna State, Dr Dalhatu Aminu, has faulted the opposition of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the Nigerian Infectious Diseases Society and the Health Sector Reform Coalition to the bill establishing the institute, describing their criticisms as a product of a “fundamental misreading” of the proposed legislation.
Aminu said the groups based their objections on provisions that do not exist in the current version of the bill before the National Assembly, insisting that the proposed institute would complement, rather than duplicate, the statutory functions of the NCDC.
PUNCH Online reports that the bill seeking to establish the National Institute for Public Health and Infectious Diseases has sparked debate within Nigeria’s public health sector.
While the NCDC and some stakeholders argue that the proposal could create overlapping responsibilities with the agency established under the NCDC Act, 2018, supporters of the bill insist the institute is intended to fill critical gaps in specialist infectious disease treatment, postgraduate training and cutting-edge research without encroaching on the NCDC’s statutory mandate.
Addressing a press conference in Zaria on Tuesday, the acting CEO said the bill, sponsored by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, neither creates a parallel public health agency nor confers on the institute powers already vested in the NCDC.
According to him, the institute is designed as a specialist tertiary institution dedicated to infectious disease clinical care, postgraduate training and advanced research, while supporting the NCDC in disease surveillance, outbreak response and national public health preparedness.
“The opposition is based on a fundamental misreading of the bill. The organisations appear to have analysed an earlier, superseded draft or an entirely different document,” Aminu said.
He cited Section 21 of the proposed legislation, which he said expressly states that the institute “shall not duplicate the statutory public health surveillance, outbreak response, or national coordination functions of the NCDC.”
Aminu added that the same section requires the institute to collaborate with the NCDC in training, joint research and outbreak investigation support whenever requested.
He also dismissed claims that the bill seeks to designate the institute as Nigeria’s International Health Regulations National Focal Point, insisting that no such provision exists in the legislation.
He further rejected allegations that the institute would establish zonal offices across the country, explaining that the bill provides only for its headquarters in Zaria while permitting collaborative training and research units where necessary.
According to him, the institute is an upgrade of the existing National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Training Centre, Zaria, which has more than 60 years of experience, and would inherit its staff, infrastructure and facilities instead of creating a new bureaucracy.
He said the proposed institute would strengthen Nigeria’s health security by expanding specialist infectious disease care, boosting research capacity and producing more experts in infectious diseases.
Aminu also defended the funding proposal under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, describing the allocation as modest and essential for strengthening specialist healthcare, research and workforce development.
Responding to concerns earlier raised by the Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, during the House of Representatives’ public hearing on the bill, Aminu maintained that the legislation did not empower the institute to coordinate disease outbreaks, conduct national disease surveillance, serve as Nigeria’s International Health Regulations National Focal Point or exercise regulatory authority.
Idris had argued that some provisions of the bill appeared to overlap with the statutory responsibilities of the NCDC and warned that establishing another institution with similar mandates could result in duplication, institutional conflicts and weaken Nigeria’s coordinated public health emergency response architecture.
However, Aminu challenged that position, saying a careful reading of the bill clearly showed that the institute’s mandate was distinct from that of the NCDC.
He called on the NCDC to publish its promised clause-by-clause analysis of the bill to allow Nigerians to scrutinise the legislation objectively.
Aminu also urged the NCDC, the Nigerian Infectious Diseases Society and the Health Sector Reform Coalition to review the authentic version of the bill, withdraw their opposition and engage constructively with its sponsors.
“Nigeria needs a strong NCDC. It also needs strong clinical, training and research institutions to support the NCDC. The proposed National Institute for Public Health and Infectious Diseases is intended to complement—not compete with—the NCDC,” he said.
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