23 million Nigerians now have health insurance, up 42% in under three years
The regulator says it resolved 82% of complaints within 48 hours, and won refunds for patients who were wrongly charged.
Abuja — Health insurance enrolment in Nigeria reached 23.06 million people in the second quarter of 2026, up from 16.2 million in late 2023, the head of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) said on Thursday.
Kelechi Ohiri told the Future of Health Conference in Abuja that enrolment across federal, state and private schemes had grown by 42.35%.
Making the card count
Ohiri said a card alone means little if it does not get a patient into a working facility with essential medicines. To close that gap, the NHIA has:
- launched the MyNHIA app and an online self-enrolment portal;
- put QR codes in accredited facilities so patients can check what their package covers;
- tracked 2,209 complaints and resolved 82% of them within 48 hours, winning refunds for people wrongly charged, and delisting persistently non-compliant providers.
Reaching the poorest
Under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund gateway, enrolment rose from 2.6 million to 3.2 million between the second and third quarters of 2026. A programme with the Global Fund in Gombe, Anambra, Ebonyi and Kwara states has grown from 25,815 to 58,447 people since late 2025; 68% of them are women.
Source: Premium Times, 29 October 2026.
