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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Health & Science

Tinubu approves National Health Technology and Data Analytics Office

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Official statement New plan
  • Nigeria's President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the establishment of a new National Health Technology and Data Analytics Office.
  • The agency, to be housed in the Ministry of Health, will coordinate the country's digital health agenda and set standards for public and private institutions.
  • Dr. Obi Adigwe, former DG of NIPRD, was appointed as the agency's pioneer National Coordinator, bringing experience in leveraging science and technology for health interventions.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the creation of the National Health Technology and Data Analytics Office, a move aimed at coordinating Nigeria's digital health agenda. The new agency will operate under the Office of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare.

Dr. Obi Adigwe, previously the Director-General of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), has been appointed as the agency's first National Coordinator. His background includes leveraging science for health interventions, with experience in artificial intelligence, translational research, and technology transfer.

The agency will serve as a meta-level national platform for coordinating the country’s digital health agenda.

— Bayo OnanugaBayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, explained the purpose of the new agency.

The office will harmonize public and private health institutions, establish connecting standards, and implement the National Digital Health Architecture. It is designed to reinforce, not replace, existing functions within the health sector.

It will reinforce, not replace, the existing statutory functions of relevant departments and agencies.

— Bayo OnanugaOnanuga clarified that the new office would complement, not supersede, existing health bodies.

Adigwe's prior work includes coordinating significant projects, such as a ¥300 million Nanotechnology grant and Africa's first API Training Facility. He also led the roadmap for an €18 million European Union grant and conducted a study during the COVID-19 pandemic that addressed claims about a preparation known as Covid Organics.

The agency's Steering Committee will be co-chaired by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Pate, and the Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Mr. Olaniyi Yusuf. Other key members include the Minister of State for Health, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health, and special advisers on technology and digital economy.

It will also harmonise and empower the public and private institutions across the health system, set the standards that connect them, and operationalise the National Digital Health Architecture, approved by the National Council on Health in November 2025.

— Bayo OnanugaOnanuga further detailed the agency's role in standardizing and connecting health institutions.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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