The House of Representatives has urged the federal authorities to accentuate efforts to curb the manufacturing, distribution and circulation of faux, adulterated, counterfeit and substandard food and drinks in Nigeria.
The House made the decision on Tuesday following the adoption of an urgent movement sponsored by Makki Yalleman (APC, Jigawa) throughout plenary.
Presenting the movement, Mr Yalleman mentioned entry to secure, healthful and high quality food and drinks was important to the well being, wellbeing and productiveness of Nigerians and remained an necessary element of public well being and shopper safety.
He mentioned standardised processing and hygiene practices have been essential to stop foodborne sicknesses attributable to dangerous micro organism, chemical residues, expired substances and bodily impurities.
According to him, adherence to food security requirements would additionally allow Nigerian food companies to entry regional and worldwide markets, scale back the rejection of Nigerian exports and contribute to financial development.
The lawmaker cited current enforcement operations as proof of the rising drawback.
He referred to the dismantling of an unlawful alcohol counterfeiting syndicate at Zamfara Plaza on Lagos Island by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on 22 April 2026.
He additionally cited the raid on an unlawful and unregistered fruit juice manufacturing unit in Badagry, Lagos State, by officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on 22 September 2026.
Mr Yalleman mentioned the incidents highlighted the growing manufacturing, distribution and sale of faux, adulterated, unregistered and substandard food merchandise, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, drinks and bottled water consumed by Nigerians.
He warned that the actions posed severe dangers to public well being and might expose customers to acute poisoning and different well being problems, together with most cancers and injury to very important organs such because the kidneys, lungs, liver and coronary heart.
“Some unscrupulous manufacturers and distributors engage in practices such as counterfeiting established brands, altering labels and expiry dates, using inferior or contaminated raw materials, illegally reusing or refilling containers, and producing food and beverages outside approved regulatory standards thereby posing severe life-threatening public health risks, including acute poisoning, cancer and damages to vital organs like kidney, lung, liver, heart etc,” he mentioned.
Mr Yalleman famous that NAFDAC is legally accountable for regulating, amongst different merchandise, food and bottled water, whereas the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has statutory obligations referring to shopper safety and product security.
He additionally acknowledged the complementary roles of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), NAFDAC and FCCPC in making certain that merchandise positioned on the Nigerian market meet required security and high quality requirements.
He nonetheless expressed concern over the continued circulation of merchandise containing deceptive or misleading info, significantly on labels.
The lawmaker recognized the falsification of manufacturing dates, expiry or best-before dates, batch numbers, producer particulars and ingredient info as among the practices requiring stronger regulatory consideration.
According to the him, though current legal guidelines and laws present a framework for coping with unsafe and non-compliant merchandise, stronger implementation, improved coordination amongst regulatory companies, enhanced market surveillance and larger public consciousness have been required to deal with the issue successfully.
“With the presence of NAFDAC, SON, FCCPC, the Police, NSCDC, the increasing circulation of fake and substandard food and drinks is a very disturbing development which calls for more legislative and executive actions.”
He expressed concern that youngsters, aged individuals and different susceptible teams have been significantly uncovered to the well being dangers related to pretend and substandard food and drinks.
He referred to as for more practical and coordinated surveillance, inspection, enforcement and prosecution throughout the food and beverage provide chain.
Following the presentation of the movement, the House consequently resolved that the federal authorities ought to deal with the manufacturing and circulation of faux, adulterated, counterfeit and substandard food and drinks as a matter of urgent nationwide significance requiring sustained regulatory consideration.
It urged NAFDAC, SON and FCCPC, in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Customs Service, state governments and different related companies, to accentuate nationwide surveillance, inspection, sampling, laboratory testing and enforcement operations against producers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers concerned within the manufacturing or sale of faux and substandard food and drinks.
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The House additionally mandated its related committees, significantly these on Health, Industry, Customs, Standards and Consumer Protection, to interact NAFDAC, SON, FCCPC and different stakeholders to evaluate the dimensions of the issue and the effectiveness of current enforcement measures.
The committees have been directed to report their findings to the House inside 4 weeks for additional legislative action.
They have been additionally mandated to periodically assessment the progress made by the related companies in combating pretend and substandard food and drinks and report their findings to the House.
The movement was adopted with out debate.
Speaker of the House, Abbas Tajudeen, who presided over the plenary, thereafter referred the movement to the Committees on Health Services; Industry; and Safety, Standards and Consumer Protection for additional legislative action.
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