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By Doris Obinna
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has disclosed that it mopped up 7,210 suspected fake, falsified, substandard and non-compliant regulated products during nationwide surveillance operations between May and July 2026.
Director General, NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, in a press briefing on Monday in Lagos, disclosed this in a response to a newspaper publication over the weekend and widespread concerns over suspected adulterated food products, including yoghurt, palm oil, fruits, soy sauce, olive oil, chicken, fish, water and beverages.
Adeyeye said the agency took the concerns seriously but stressed that social media allegations alone could not establish that a product was counterfeit, adulterated or unsafe. She insisted that scientific investigation and laboratory verification remained critical to determining the safety and authenticity of regulated products.
According to her, its routine and proactive post-market surveillance covered all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with 6,233 facilities visited and 7,210 products mopped up across food and water, drugs and herbals, medical devices, vaccines and biologics, cosmetics and chemicals.
She said: “Food and water accounted for the highest number of products removed from circulation, with 3,633, followed by drugs and herbals with 2,459. Drugs and herbals recorded the highest number of facilities visited at 2,084, while food and water followed with 1,808.
“The agency’s post-market surveillance was designed to detect unsafe products, remove them from circulation, disrupt counterfeiters’ supply chains, investigate complaints and protect public health.”
She further disclosed that about 80 per cent of post-market surveillance activities were directed at surveillance and interventions aimed at detecting and curbing fake, falsified, substandard and non-compliant products.
Adeyeye also revealed that NAFDAC had secured 64 convictions for counterfeiting across the country, with jail terms ranging from one to seven years without the option of a fine.
She said the convictions involved fake antibiotics, codeine-containing cough and cold syrups, counterfeit Global Fund Artemether, fake ointments and condoms, adding that the agency had intensified raids, arrests, seizures and destruction exercises, particularly over the past three to four years.
Describing counterfeiters as “merchants of death,” Adeyeye cited the seizure and destruction of more than 137 40-foot truckloads of counterfeit and substandard products valued at over N1.5 trillion during coordinated raids on Idumota in Lagos, Onitsha in Anambra State and Ariaria Market in Aba, Abia State, between February and March 2025.
“In February 2026, the agency seized more than 10 million doses of counterfeit malaria medicines and cosmetics worth about N3 billion at Lagos Trade Fair Market and arrested four suspects. In June, five persons were arrested in Abuja over counterfeit cosmetics valued at N35 million, while a Nasarawa operation uncovered a factory packaging counterfeit rice, leading to the seizure of more than 1,600 bags valued at N5 billion.”
The agency also said it had continued enforcement of the Federal Government’s ban on alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and PET and glass bottles below 200ml. According to the DG, manufacturers were dismantling sachet alcohol production lines or reconfiguring them for non-alcoholic products.
Responding to concerns over imported fruits such as apples, grapes and oranges, the agncy said such agricultural produce did not fall exclusively under its regulatory control. It noted that the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service has responsibility for quarantine control of agricultural commodities within its mandate.
The agency also raised concern over the adulteration of palm oil with azo dyes and other hazardous substances, as well as the addition of bleach and harmful chemicals to fufu and other staple foods.
Adeyeye explained that NAFDAC’s direct regulatory oversight did not extend absolutely to unbranded palm oil, fufu and other traditionally packaged staple foods sold in open markets. She stressed that sub-national authorities also have responsibilities under the National Policy on Food Safety and Quality.
Meanwhile, Adeyeye responding to calls for her resignation, described it as part of the resistance she said had confronted her reform agenda since assuming leadership of the agency.
The NAFDAC DG said she faced opposition and alleged attempts to undermine her administration during the final year of her first term in 2022.
She alleged that some staff were instigated to embark on a strike between June and November 2022, while individuals aspiring to become NAFDAC Director General allegedly worked behind the scenes to discredit her administration.
Adeyeye, who said she was now in her ninth year at NAFDAC, maintained that she remained focused on consolidating the reforms introduced under her leadership.
She recalled that she retired from a 30-year career in the United States to return to Nigeria and serve the country, insisting that her record should be judged by the agency’s enforcement, regulatory and reform outcomes.
The NAFDAC boss urged Nigerians to report suspected unsafe, counterfeit or adulterated regulated products through the agency’s established channels rather than relying solely on social media, saying verified complaints remained essential to effective regulatory action.
