Follow Us on Google
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said it realised N2.5 billion from its recent raids of fake drugs markets in Lagos, Onitsha and Aba.
The Director General, NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, stated this on Tuesday, when she appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on NAFDAC.
She said the revenue was made from fines collected from traders found culpable of the sale of fake and substandard drugs.
The NAFDAC boss explained that in the course of the raid, which lasted for four weeks in some of the locations, some shop owners were caught distributing banned substances like Tramadol and selling expired or unregistered drugs.
Nevertheless, she explained that the agency had only N207 million left in its coffers from the N2.5 billion realised from the raids, stating that N996 million was spent on the operations, N159 million was borrowed from a donor grant and N1.175 billion spent on regulatory expenses.
Adeyeye said: “The charges collected were paid directly into a NAFDAC account. The total amount was about N2.5 billion, roughly N2.537 billion. For the operation in the three markets in Lagos, Onitsha, and Aba, about N996 million was spent.
“We had to borrow N159 million from an existing grant because we didn’t have funds. In addition, regulatory expenses amounted to N1.175 billion. So, out of the N2.537 billion, we have only about N207 million left in the account.”
Other News
She added that, “These charges were not punitive but necessary. The standard fine for violating Good Distribution and Storage Practice (GDSP) is N2 million, but in many cases, we reduced it to N500,000.”
The NAFDAC boss, while speaking on the agency’s 2024 raid in Kano, said the operation was significantly different from the agency’s clampdown in Lagos, Onitsha and Aba, as it was necessitated by a judgment of a Federal High Court, which ordered the relocation of open drug market in the city to the newly constructed Coordinated Wholesale Centre (CWC).
However, she explained that no administrative charges or fines were collected during the Kano operation, due to the urgent and court-directed nature of the operation.
“The traders (in Kano) initially resisted. There were real threats of violence. But, we had no choice; we had to act. They padlocked their shops but we bought bigger padlocks and sealed them. To reopen, they had to agree to relocate.
“These are the lives we are trying to save. We had no funds at the time; our accounts had just been shut down and reopened with zero balance at the start of January 2024. Yet, we had to carry out the court judgment and move over 1,300 shops into the regulated centre.
“In the South, Lagos, Onitsha, Aba, there was no CWC. So, our approach was different. We had time to prepare, inspect and charge offenders, according to their violations,” Adeyeye stated.
The committee directed NAFDAC to re-appear before it with a comprehensive report, detailing location-by-location account of the N2.5 billion realised from the raids.
The chairman of the committee, Regina Akume, in her remarks, said the presentation by the agency was incomplete, noting that “the work has not been completed. I would like to give you a chance to go back and work on this.”
