A coalition of consumer rights groups on Monday staged a protest at the Lagos office of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control NAFDAC over the agency’s planned enforcement of a ban on sachet alcoholic beverages.
The protest, led by Olufemi Lawson under the banner of the Coalition for the Protection of Consumers’ Rights, followed recent remarks by NAFDAC Director General Professor Mojisola Adeyeye indicating that enforcement actions against sachet alcohol products would soon commence.
Speaking to journalists at the protest ground, Lawson described the proposed enforcement as harsh, economically insensitive and poorly conceived, arguing that it runs contrary to the Federal Government’s efforts to curb unemployment and ease economic hardship.
According to the coalition, the move would unfairly impact manufacturers, distributors and consumers, while also exposing what it called regulatory inconsistencies within NAFDAC.
Lawson questioned why sachet alcoholic beverages that were previously tested, registered and approved by the agency are now being labeled as dangerous. He argued that issues such as underage drinking stem from regulatory and enforcement lapses rather than the existence of the products themselves.
“These products are clearly labeled not for sale to persons under 18. If minors still have access to them, then enforcement at the retail level has failed,” he said.
The group also dismissed claims that sachet alcohol contains excessively high alcohol content, stating that licensed distilleries in Nigeria operate within internationally accepted alcohol by volume standards. Environmental concerns were equally challenged, with the coalition noting that sachet packaging is common across several consumer goods, including water and detergents.
Protesters displayed placards reading “Suspend the Sachet Alcohol Ban,” “Save Jobs, Save Livelihoods” and “Regulation Not Prohibition,” warning that a sustained enforcement could result in widespread job losses across the distillery value chain.
As part of their demands, the coalition called for the immediate suspension of the enforcement, the reopening of sealed factories and meaningful stakeholder engagement to develop data driven regulatory solutions.
The group also appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly to intervene, warning that failure to do so could spark nationwide protests across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
NAFDAC officials at the Lagos office did not address the protesters, and the agency had not issued an official response at the time of filing this report.
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