Looting : Reps calls for caution in drug purchase,  consumption 

 Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja 
The House of Representatives,  on Tuesday,  charged Nigerians to be cautious in the purchase and consumption of drugs, following the looting of National Agency for Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)  warehouse, in Kaduna State,  where seized fake and expired drugs were reportedly stored awaiting destruction. 
The chairman,  House Committee on Healthcare Services, Yusuf Tanko Sununu,  gave the caution at a budget defence session with heads of agencies,  that appeared before the committee. 
Sununu stated that the expired and counterfeit drugs stored in the NAFDAC warehouse,  pending approval from the relevant authorities  for their destruction, were allegedly carted away by hoodlums, who invaded the facility. 
Meanwhile,  the committee has rejected the budget defence of four agencies,  because they were poorly prepared. 
The affected agencies,  which were directed to return to the committee on a later date for their budget defence include NAFDAC, National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS), the Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria (IPAN) and the Regional Centre for Oral Health Research and Training Initiatives for Africa. (RCORTI), Jos.
However,  the committee decried poor funding for RCORTI, saying the government was treating the agency with levity. 
The deputy chairman of the committee, Adejare Babatunde, who presided over the budget defence session, before the arrival of the chairman,  stated that while many African countries were desirous of having the centre in their country,  Nigeria was starving the agency. 
According to him “What I had the intention of saying here, I won’t say it again. I will leave it. But since candidly speaking, if we cannot put what is needed to put in that agency to make it what its supposed to be, let another country take it up from us. That is the sincere thing about it.
” That is my own opinion about it. It hurts me to say this, but if were not ready to, a lot of countries vied to have this agency in their countries, but since they have given us, have we shown enough commitment to say that we really want it? “