Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has set December 31, 2026, as the deadline for residents to obtain health-insurance coverage, with enforcement of the state’s mandatory-insurance policy due to begin January 1, 2027.
The announcement was made as the governor launched the Lagos Private Health Plans (LPHP) under Executive Order EO/BOS/01 of 2024, according to a government press statement. The new plans are intended to extend coverage to salaried workers and businesses, alongside Ilera Eko, the state scheme serving vulnerable people and workers in the informal sector.
The policy assigns responsibilities to residents, employers and government. The statement says employers are expected to provide for workers’ healthcare, while the new plan is intended to offer formal-sector employees and organisations additional coverage options. Twenty-one health maintenance organisations were reported to have endorsed participation in the plans.
Sanwo-Olu said the objective was to expand insurance coverage and help residents access healthcare without facing severe financial hardship. He also stressed that people requiring emergency treatment must first be stabilised; payment or insurance questions should not prevent emergency care.
The announcement builds on Lagos’s existing mandatory-enrolment framework. The state Ministry of Health previously described the 2024 executive order as making enrolment in the Lagos State Health Scheme compulsory, and identified Ilera Eko as a route to coverage.
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