The Lagos State branch of the Nigerian Medical Association has condemned the Federal Government for failing to fully reconstitute the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, describing the delay as a dangerous gap in the country’s health regulatory system.
The association’s criticism follows the death of 21‑month‑old Nkanu Nnamdi Esege, son of acclaimed Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and the controversial handling of the case by a Medical and Dental Practitioners Investigation Panel set up under the council.
The panel had recommended the suspension of practitioners from Euracare MultiSpecialist Hospital and Atlantis Pediatric Hospital, both implicated in the child’s treatment, even as a coroner’s inquest into the circumstances of his death is still ongoing.
In a statement signed by its chairman, Saheed Kehinde, the Lagos NMA argued that without a fully constituted council, the Medical and Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal cannot sit, leaving both patients and doctors in limbo and undermining confidence in the system meant to adjudicate allegations of medical negligence.
The association insisted that the MDCN is the primary statutory body empowered to ensure accountability in medical practice, stressing that only a properly convened tribunal can deliver justice fairly to all parties in such sensitive cases.
Kehinde faulted the investigation panel’s approach, saying its work appeared punitive rather than genuinely investigative, and that the process fell short of the principles of fair hearing. He also criticised the way the panel’s report was publicised and amplified on social media, warning that trial by media further erodes due process.
He maintained that a fully functional council would help prevent “continuous and endless” disciplinary processes that leave practitioners under prolonged psychological strain while complainants wait indefinitely for closure.
President Bola Tinubu had named Professor Afolabi Lesi as chair of the MDCN board, but other members of the council are yet to be appointed, effectively rendering the body unable to perform its core regulatory and disciplinary functions.
Kehinde questioned the value of appointing only a chairman without a council to work with, describing the situation as symptomatic of a wider “self‑imposed systemic failure” within the Federal Ministry of Health. He warned that the continued delay in constituting the MDCN and other health institution boards is unacceptable and poses serious risks to the integrity of Nigeria’s healthcare system.
