Adeyanju seeks state of emergency on fake drug

From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja

Human rights lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, has urged President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency on fake drugs and substandard products, warning that Nigerians were being exposed daily to potentially dangerous medicines and consumer goods.

He also called for the removal of the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mojisola Adeyeye, and heads of other regulatory agencies, including the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), over what he described as regulatory failure.

Adeyanju, in a statement issued in Abuja, said the prevalence of counterfeit and substandard medicines and other products required urgent intervention by the Federal Government and a comprehensive review of the country’s regulatory system.

The founding partner of Deji Adeyanju and Partners alleged that NAFDAC appeared incapable of effectively curbing the proliferation of fake and substandard products.

He expressed similar concerns about SON and other agencies charged with protecting consumers, arguing that their leadership should be held accountable where they failed to discharge their responsibilities.

Adeyanju said Nigerians were increasingly exposed to potentially unsafe products, from medicines to other consumer goods, and expressed concern over reports of drugs being sold wholesale in the open and exposed to excessive heat.

“No responsible government should expose its citizens to such risks and expect mortality rates not to rise,” he said.

He accused the regulatory agencies of failing to provide adequate protection for consumers and urged the President to overhaul their leadership.

“NAFDAC appears incapable of effectively curbing the proliferation of fake and substandard products, while similar concerns extend to the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and other regulatory agencies responsible for protecting Nigerians.

“The President must be alive to his responsibility and act decisively by removing the Director-General of NAFDAC and the heads of other failed regulatory agencies, including SON, and appointing competent leadership capable of restoring effective regulation and enforcement,” Adeyanju said.

He maintained that the scale of the problem pointed to serious weaknesses in regulation and enforcement in critical sectors.

Adeyanju consequently urged the Federal Government to treat the proliferation of counterfeit and substandard drugs and products as a national emergency and undertake a comprehensive review of the regulatory framework.

“Nigerians cannot continue to pay with their lives for regulatory failure,” he said.