- Unemployed Nigerians protest alleged sachet alcohol ban at NAFDAC HQ
- Coalition warns move will worsen unemployment and hardship
- Group accuses NAFDAC of regulatory inconsistency
- Says sachet alcohol products were already approved by NAFDAC
Members of the Coalition of Unemployed People in Nigeria on Tuesday stormed the Abuja headquarters of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to protest the agency’s reported plan to enforce a ban on sachet alcoholic beverages, a move they say could deepen unemployment and economic suffering across the country.
The protesters gathered peacefully at the NAFDAC office, chanting solidarity songs and carrying placards condemning the alleged enforcement directive attributed to the agency’s Director-General, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye.
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Addressing journalists at the protest ground, the coalition described the reported move as “vexatious, ill-timed and anti-people,” insisting that enforcing a ban on sachet alcohol would destroy thousands of jobs within Nigeria’s already fragile informal economy.
In a statement read by the group’s spokesperson, Princess Mimi Peter Esq., the coalition said the action contradicts President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, especially at a time when Nigerians are struggling with high unemployment, inflation and rising living costs.
“This is not the time to take actions that will push more Nigerians into poverty,” Peter said.
“Any policy that threatens livelihoods must be carefully reconsidered.”
The group accused NAFDAC of selective morality and regulatory inconsistency, noting that sachet alcohol products currently sold across the country were tested, registered and approved by the same agency now reportedly seeking to ban them.
“For the avoidance of doubt, no licensed distillery in Nigeria produces sachet alcohol with 50, 70 or 90 per cent alcohol content, as being claimed,” the statement read.
According to the coalition, commonly sold products such as gin, schnapps, rum and bitters fall within internationally accepted alcohol limits and are clearly labelled, inspected and verified during the NAFDAC registration process.
The protesters argued that branding these products as dangerous now raises serious questions about the agency’s regulatory competence and integrity, urging the federal government to intervene before irreversible damage is done to jobs and small businesses.