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By Zika Bobby
Protests intensified yesterday as members of the Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB) picketed the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) over the continued enforcement of the sachet alcohol ban.
Protesters barricaded the gates of NAFDAC’s Lagos office, accusing the agency of defying a Federal Government directive to pause enforcement until the National Alcohol Policy was fully implemented.
However, NAFDAC has dismissed the claims as fake news. The agency insists it has received no formal instruction to halt its regulatory actions and remains committed to its public health mandate.
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Addressing protesters, Kolawole Buhari, National Vice President of FOBTOB West, warned that the continued sealing of factories and depots could result in massive job losses across the value chain.
According to him, an estimated 5.5 million jobs are at risk if enforcement actions persist.
“This action threatens 5.5 million jobs. It is against the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. When jobs are lost, the same children the government says it wants to protect will be pushed onto the streets,” he said.
Also speaking, Lanre Yusuf, National Deputy President of FOBTOB, described the NAFDAC Director-General’s stance as being contrary to the position of the Federal Government.
He maintained that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) had issued a joint directive advising that enforcement measures be paused.
“The Federal Government, through the SGF and the Office of the National Security Adviser, has given a directive. The Director-General should respect that directive and immediately reopen all factories and depots that were sealed,” he stated.
The controversy stemmed from a clarification by the Special Adviser on Public Affairs to the SGF, Terrence Kuanum, indicating that while the National Alcohol Policy had been approved by the Federal Ministry of Health under the directive of President Bola Tinubu, regulatory enforcement actions such as sealing factories should be put on hold until the policy is fully operationalised.
