The House of Representatives has asked the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to submit details of all fine payments collected from defaulting traders of fake and substandard drugs in an operation against open outlets in the country.
The acting chairman of the House Committee on Food and Drug Administration and Control, Hon. Uchenna Okonkwo, made the demand when the agency’s Director General, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, appeared before the panel over allegations of NAFDAC extorting traders at the Onitsha Bridge Head Market.
The committee expressed concerns over the agency’s collecting N700,000 from thousands of traders in Lagos, Anambra, and Kano States, where it operated.
Okonkwo said that though the committee appreciated NAFDAC’s efforts to remove fake drugs from the Nigerian market, it had nevertheless received several petitions from various stakeholders on recent investigative activities carried out during the general investigative operation on open drug outlets in Lagos, Anambra, and Kano.
“Such of these allegations includes; The shutting down of the biggest drug market in West Africa located in Anambra State over non-compliance with the imposition of the payment of the N700,000 per shop; the alleged increment from N500,000 to N700,000 per shop; and the alleged payment of N2,000,000 as administrative charges for improper storage and handling of products in Idumota Lagos,” Okonkwo said.
He stressed the need to inform Nigerians about the funds collected, realised, and accrued during this exercise, which was carried out in collaboration with the National Security Adviser (NSA).
We would make a motion that the statement of accounts be provided to the committee, although you mentioned that it’s still ongoing. However, we will allow you to have an interim statement of the account supplied, which starts from the date of the investigation to June 30th, 2025.
“So June 30th, which gives you about a week or so from now, so far to provide the accounts, statement of accounts to the committee which states the funds that were paid, the accounts that the fund was paid to and whatever it is that had been accrued to date,” he said.
Okonkwo also said it was imperative to ensure that the Coordinated Wholesale Centres (CWC) become a number one priority for NAFDAC and the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria, in coordination with the relevant state governments and the traders involved.
He said the CWCs should be built to modern standards and have all the necessary accommodations to ensure a safe trading and storage environment for drugs, pharmaceuticals, and the like in Nigeria.
“You mentioned some kingpins within these areas of operation. And I think it’s only proper for us to investigate further and know more about this, and then see what exactly the security forces are doing to get these people prosecuted, because they have become a significant issue. They are part of the problem, or instead they will be part of the problem of getting our nation sanitised from these counterfeit drugs, substandard drugs.
“So I would like for us to make a motion that whatever information NAFDAC has been able to discover based on that, they should be able to share that with the committee. And as well, the committee would work with the relevant security agencies to see how we can flush these people out of the system to have a more sanitary system within Nigeria,” he said.
The NAFADC DG, who the Director, Investigation and Enforcement represented, Shaba Mohammed, said that of the N700,000 they were collecting from the traders, N500,000 was for poor storage practice, and N200,000 was for the unregistered products found on them.
“We did not just wake up and launch the operation. It was in response to growing concerns, including alerts from the World Health Organisation (WHO), and complaints from local and international stakeholders about counterfeit drugs emanating from our markets.
“All shops in the identified markets were sealed, regardless of whether or not counterfeit or substandard products were found. This was necessary to ensure a thorough and effective exercise. Only shops that complied with regulatory standards were reopened after the operation,” she said.
