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The short answer
Private hospitals and clinics in Nigeria are registered by the state where they operate; in Lagos that is the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA), which fines an unregistered functioning facility ₦100,000 when it is discovered. To check a facility, contact the state agency with its name and address, ask the facility for its registration certificate, and confirm its doctors on the MDCN register.
Who registers hospitals and clinics
Health facilities are regulated mainly at state level. Each state has an agency or ministry department that registers private hospitals, clinics, laboratories, diagnostic centres and similar premises, inspects them and can close them. The professionals inside are regulated separately at federal level: doctors by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), laboratory scientists by the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN), and so on. A safe facility passes both tests: the building and services are registered with the state, and the people treating you are registered with their councils.
Lagos is the best documented case. HEFAMAA's support FAQ says operating a functioning health facility without registering with the agency attracts a ₦100,000 fine once discovered, and that the rule covers 15 facility types including hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, diagnostic centres and mortuaries. The FAQ page is about four years old, so confirm current penalties with the agency.
How HEFAMAA enforces the rules
HEFAMAA inspects and seals facilities that fail its standards. In a review reported by Gazette Nigeria on 1 November 2022, its then Executive Secretary, Abiola Idowu, said the agency visited about 1,040 facilities between January and September that year, sealed 42 and issued 157 closure notices. The reasons given were non-compliance with standards, non-registration, lack of qualified medical personnel and illegal training of auxiliary nurses. The agency's powers come from the Lagos Health Sector Reform Law 2006, the report said.
Those figures are from 2022, but the pattern still tells a patient what to look for: an unregistered facility, unqualified staff, or a clinic training its own "nurses" on the job.
How to check a facility in Lagos
- Ask the facility to show its HEFAMAA registration certificate and note the name and address on it. A facility should be able to show this without hesitation.
- Contact HEFAMAA to confirm. Its support page lists hefamaa@lagosstate.gov.ng and the phone lines +234 901 563 7023, +234 905 727 3396, +234 810 416 8588 and +234 817 270 4228, and its office at Plot 6, Alhaja Ashabi Cole Street, TISCO Plaza, Central Business District, Alausa, Ikeja.
- Give the agency the facility's exact name and full address, since branches of the same group are registered separately.
- Check the doctor treating you on the MDCN register (see below).
Outside Lagos
Other states use their own bodies. In the FCT, the body usually named for facility registration is the FCT Administration's Health and Human Services Secretariat; elsewhere it is normally the state Ministry of Health or a dedicated agency similar to HEFAMAA. We did not open a registry page for each state for this guide, so the practical step is the same everywhere: ask the facility which state body registered it, ask to see the certificate, and confirm with that body using contact details from the state government's own website.
You may also see references to a federal health facility registry. We could not open it for this guide, so treat any listing there as a supporting check, and confirm its current status on the Federal Ministry of Health's own website before relying on it. The state register remains the one that decides whether a private facility may operate.
Signs a facility may not be registered
- No certificate on display, and staff are vague when you ask for one.
- The name on the signboard differs from the name on receipts or the certificate.
- Nobody can tell you the name of the doctor in charge.
- Staff describe themselves as nurses but say they were "trained here"; HEFAMAA has cited illegal training of auxiliary nurses as a reason for sealing facilities.
- The facility offers procedures, such as surgery or scans, that seem far beyond its size and equipment.
None of these proves a facility is illegal, but each is a reason to ask the state agency before you or a family member is admitted. Where a facility has been sealed, the state agency is also the body that can tell you whether it has since been allowed to reopen.
Check the people as well as the building
A registered building can still employ someone who should not be practising. The MDCN runs a public Confirm a Doctor Status search on its portal, which shows a doctor's name, practice type, practice location and status, and it publishes lists of sanctioned doctors and of quack doctors. It also accepts reports of quacks, schools and hospitals. Our guide to verifying a doctor on the MDCN register walks through the search, and checking a laboratory with the MLSCN covers test centres.
What to check first
- A visible state registration certificate in the facility's name and at that address.
- The name of the doctor in charge, checked on the MDCN portal.
- Whether the facility is on your HMO's provider list, if you are insured (see our guide to checking an HMO).
- A written bill before non-emergency treatment, so charges are clear; our guide to healthcare costs in Lagos covers what people typically still pay.
- In an emergency, go to the nearest facility first and check later; the national 112 line is covered in our emergency numbers guide.
Questions people ask
How do I know if a hospital is registered in Lagos?
Ask to see its HEFAMAA registration certificate and confirm with HEFAMAA by email (hefamaa@lagosstate.gov.ng) or its listed phone lines, giving the facility's exact name and address.
What is the fine for an unregistered clinic in Lagos?
HEFAMAA's support FAQ says a functioning facility that is not registered attracts a ₦100,000 fine once discovered. The page is about four years old, so confirm the current penalty with the agency.
Who registers private hospitals in Nigeria?
The state where the facility operates. In Lagos it is HEFAMAA; other states use their Ministry of Health or a dedicated agency. Doctors are registered separately by the MDCN.
How do I report a fake hospital or quack doctor?
In Lagos, contact HEFAMAA. Anywhere in Nigeria, the MDCN portal has a form to report quacks, schools and hospitals.
Sources
- HEFAMAA support: penalties for unregistered facilities · accessed Oct 2026
- Lagos govt seals 42 health facilities in nine months (Gazette Nigeria, 1 Nov 2022) · accessed Oct 2026
- MDCN services: primary-source verification and practitioner search · accessed Oct 2026
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