Reps ask FG to treat fake food and drinks as national priority
- House of Representatives want make dem treat fake and substandard food and drinks as national priority.
- Lawmakers ask NAFDAC, SON, FCCPC, police and customs to step up enforcement across di country.
- House committees get four weeks to report how bad di problem be and how well current rules dey work.
Di House of Representatives don ask di Federal Government to treat di making and selling of fake, adulterated and substandard food and drinks as national priority, and to keep regulators and security agencies working together against am.
Di lawmakers want di National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), di Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and di Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to join forces with di police, di Nigeria Customs Service, state governments and other agencies to watch di market more closely and act against offenders across di country.
Di call matter for ordinary Nigerians because most families dey buy dia food, drinks and bottled water from open markets and small shops, where checking labels and expiry dates na often di only protection wey buyer get.
Wetin di House want
When e present di motion, Abubakar Maki Yalleman, wey chair di House Committee on Police Affairs, talk say safe and wholesome food dey central to Nigerians' health and productivity. E talk say proper processing and hygiene fit prevent illnesses wey harmful bacteria, chemical residues, expired ingredients and physical contaminants dey cause.
E also argue say meeting food safety standards go help Nigerian food businesses sell into regional and international markets, cut rejections of exported goods and support economic growth.
Di House ask for more inspections, product sampling, laboratory testing and enforcement targeting manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers. E also direct im relevant committees to look at how big di problem be and how well existing enforcement dey work, with findings due back within four weeks.
Lawmakers also want di agencies to report periodically on wetin dem don achieve, so di House fit review progress.
Yalleman point to recent operations, including NAFDAC's break-up of illegal alcohol counterfeiting operations at Zamfara Plaza on Lagos Island on 22 April 2026, and a Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps raid on an unregistered fruit juice factory in Badagry, Lagos State, on 22 September 2026.
E talk say di growing sale of fake, unregistered and substandard food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and bottled water dey worry am, especially for children, di elderly and other vulnerable people.
E allege say some manufacturers and distributors dey counterfeit well-known brands, change labels and expiry dates, use inferior or contaminated raw materials, refill containers illegally and produce outside approved standards. Such products, e talk, fit cause acute poisoning, cancer and damage to organs like kidney, lung, liver and heart.
E talk say NAFDAC, SON and di FCCPC dey do dia best within dia roles, but say misleading labels, including false production and expiry dates, batch numbers and ingredient details, still be problem.
Yalleman talk say existing laws give agencies basis to act, but say stronger enforcement, better coordination, more market surveillance and public awareness dey needed.
Wetin go happen next
Di House committees get four weeks to report back, after which di House fit decide on further legislative steps. Whether di agencies go get more money, staff or powers go depend on wetin those findings show and on action by di executive.
