President Bola Tinubu has approved the creation of the National Health Technology and Data Analytics Office and named Obi Adigwe as its pioneer National Coordinator.

According to a statement by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, the office will sit within the Office of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare and serve as a national platform for coordinating the country’s digital health agenda.

Rather than replace existing agencies, the office is intended to reinforce their statutory functions, harmonise public and private institutions across the health system, set connecting standards and operationalise the National Digital Health Architecture approved by the National Council on Health in November 2025.

Adigwe, who heads the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, was credited with coordinating major projects, including a nanotechnology grant and an AFREXIMBank-backed API training facility, and with leading work behind an 18 million euro EU grant. During the last pandemic he carried out the first analysis to challenge claims about the Covid Organics preparation.

A steering committee co-chaired by Minister Muhammad Ali Pate and Nigerian Economic Summit Group chairman Olaniyi Yusuf will provide oversight, with members drawn from health agencies, the technology sector and representatives of state health commissioners across the six geopolitical zones. The President expects the office to speed Nigeria’s shift to a secure, interoperable and data driven health system.