By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
Members of the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB) have continued their protest against the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) over the enforcement of the sachet alcohol ban.
The workers barricaded the NAFDAC Lagos office gate on Thursday and accused the agency of refusing to comply with what they described as joint directives from the Federal Government to halt enforcement pending full implementation of the National Alcohol Policy.
The renewed protest comes amid NAFDAC’s insistence that the enforcement remain intact, dismissing claims that it was ordered to suspend enforcement.
The agency said such reports are unverified and amount to fake news and misrepresentation of government position, stressing that it has not received any formal directive instructing it to stop its regulatory actions and that it remains committed to its mandate of protecting public health.
The controversy stems from a clarification issued by the Special Adviser on Public Affairs to the Secretary General of the Federation (SGF), Terrence Kuanum, saying 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.
While addressing the protesters on Thursday, the National Vice President of FOBTOB West, Kolawole Buhari, warned that the continued sealing off of factories and depots could result in massive job losses across the value chain.
Buhari said an estimated 5.5 million jobs are at risk if enforcement actions persist, adding that the action was against the agenda of the current administration.
In his address, the National Deputy President of FOBTOB, Lanre Yusuf, described the NAFDAC Director-General’s stance as being contrary to the position of the Federal Government.
Yusuf 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.
