Workers in Nigeria’s food and beverage sector staged fresh protests against the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Thursday.
The workers are protesting the continued enforcement of the sachet alcohol ban, despite claims of a Federal Government directive ordering a halt to the action.
Members of the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB) barricaded the entrance to NAFDAC’s Lagos office in Isolo.
According to the association, NAFDAC has defied what it described as a joint Federal Government directive to suspend enforcement pending the full implementation of the National Alcohol Policy.
However, NAFDAC firmly rejected the allegation, describing reports of such a directive as fake news and a misrepresentation of the government’s position.
The agency maintained that it has not received any formal instruction ordering it to stop enforcement and insisted that it remains bound by its statutory mandate to protect public health.
Addressing the protesters, FOBTOB’s National Vice President (West), Comrade Kolawole Buhari, warned that NAFDAC’s continued sealing of factories and depots could trigger massive job losses across the industry’s value chain.
“This action threatens 5.5 million jobs. It runs contrary to the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. When jobs are lost, the same children the government claims it wants to protect will be forced onto the streets,” Buhari said.
Also speaking, FOBTOB’s National Deputy President, Comrade Lanre Yusuf, accused the NAFDAC Director-General of acting against the position of the Federal Government.
He insisted that a joint advisory had been issued by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), recommending that enforcement be paused.
“The Federal Government, through the SGF and the Office of the National Security Adviser, has issued a directive.
The Director-General should respect it and immediately reopen all sealed factories and depots,” Yusuf said.
