After days of protests across the
country, the House of
Representatives Committee on
National Agency on Food, Drugs
Administration and Control
(NAFDAC) headed by Regina
Akume, has ordered the suspension
of the ban imposed by NAFDAC on
the sale of spirits and alcoholic
drinks in sachets and pet bottles
pending the outcome of its
investigation on the matter.
The House Commitee made this
decision known after its public
hearing on the NAFDAC ban on
Thursday at the National Assembly complex where the house commitee members, including the Chairperson, Regina Akume; Deputy
Chairman, Idu Obiajulu; Minister of
State for Health, Tunji Alausa;
NAFDAC DG, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye;
DG of Manufacturers Association of
Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi-Kadir,
representatives of the Food,
Beverage & Tobacco Employers and
Distillers and Blenders Association
of Nigeria; representatives of the
spirits and alcoholic drinks
producers; officials of the Nigerian
Police Force; Customs and Excise;
Federal Road Safety Corps;
organised labour and the civil
society were present.
After hearing the NAFDAC DG who
claimed that the ban was imposed to
protect the health and welfare of
children, youths and other
vulnerable groups, the House
Commitee aligned itself with the
views of the producers, civil society
and organised labour that the
unemployment and hardship being
occasioned by the closure of
factories as a result of the ban far
outweighed the health concerns of NAFDAC
The House members also observed
that the proper step is to put access
control procedures in place to
prevent children and youths from
consuming the alcoholic contents of the sachet and pet bottles.
With this in mind, the House
Commitee moved for the
Suspension of the NAFDAC ban
pending the outcome of its
investigation and duly adjourned its
proceedings sine die.
In the last two weeks, there had
been protests by stakeholders in
several cities, including NAFDAC
headquarters office in Abuja,
NAFDAC office in Lagos, factory site
of some of the alcohol firms in Ota,
Ogun State and other locations
decrying the ban with placards that
had inscriptions such as “Let poor
Nigerians breathe”, ‘Let beverage
workers breathe’, ‘Save our jobs’,
amongst others, insisting that the
ban has no health implications but
rather would have a negative impact on the economy with over 500,000 jobjob loss.
