The maiden edition of National Drug Policy (NDP) in Nigeria was launched in 1990 against the background of inadequacies in drug availability, supply and distribution resulting from various factors, such as: ineffective system of drug administration and control, inadequate funding of drug supply and drug control activities, high dependence on foreign sources for finished drug products, pharmaceutical raw materials, reagents, equipment and inadequate facilities for storage, transportation and distribution of drugs. Others limitations include: poor performance of drug suppliers to public health care institutions, poor selection and procurement practices, involvement of unqualified persons in procurement, distribution and sale of drugs and lack of political will to attend to numerous drug related matters such as provision of safe, efficacious and good quality drugs to meet the health needs of Nigerians. The policy was formulated with laudable goals and objectives intended to address the unsatisfactory situation at that time. Its adoption was seen as a positive development while some modest progress were recorded with the publication of an Essential Drugs List (EDL), the National Drug Formulary (NDF), and establishment of a statutory agency saddled with the responsibility of drug administration and control, in addition to the introduction of drug registration procedures. Access to essential drugs remains a key indicator in the assessment of the viability of primary health care system in line with the Bamako Initiative. In 1975 International Labor Organization (ILO) introduced and defined the concept of essential drug while the World Health Organisation (WHO) prepared the first list of essential drugs in 1976. The WHO recommended the list for