The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has disclosed that it generated N2.5 billion from its recent clampdown on illicit drug markets in Lagos, Onitsha, and Aba.
Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of the Agency, disclosed this during a session before the House of Representatives Committee on Food and Drug Administration and Control on Wednesday. She said the funds were fines collected from traders found guilty of selling fake or substandard drugs during recent enforcement actions in open markets across the Country.
While stressing that all funds were paid directly into NAFDAC’s official account, she noted that N996 million was spent on enforcement operations, N159 million was borrowed from a donor grant, and N1.175 billion went to regulatory expenses. According to her, the agency was left with about N206 million after deductions.
Adeyeye further explained that the operation, which deployed over 1,300 security personnel, uncovered widespread violations ranging from expired and unapproved drugs to poor storage practices.
“The charges collected were paid directly into a NAFDAC account. The total amount was about N2.5 billion. roughly N2.537 billion. For the operation in the three markets—Lagos, Onitsha, and Aba, about N996 million was spent. We had to borrow N159 million from an existing grant because we didn’t have funds. In addition, regulatory expenses amounted to N1.175 billion. So, out of the N2.537 billion, we have only about N207 million left in the account.”, she said.
Adeyeye said the enforcement drive, which lasted up to four weeks in some locations, uncovered serious threats to public health.
She stated that some shop owners were caught distributing banned substances like Tramadol and selling expired or unregistered medicines.
“These charges were not punitive but necessary. The standard fine for violating Good Distribution and Storage Practice (GDSP) is N2 million, but in many cases, we reduced it to N500,000,” she said.
She, however, lamented that the Agency’s inability to sustain such critical operations is being crippled by severe revenue restrictions imposed by the Federal Government.
While decrying the financial constraints facing the agency, Adeyeye explained that at the end of 2023, NAFDAC had N19 billion in its accounts, but N9 billion was removed before the agency could access it, and only N4.5 billion was eventually released.
Responding to lawmakers’ concerns that Kano traders were treated more leniently compared to the operations in the southern part of the country, she said the Agency followed due process, guided by the urgency of the court judgment and prevailing security risks.
She explained that the operation in the North-Western State was monumental and court-mandated intervention that differed significantly from the raids conducted in Lagos, Onitsha, and Aba.
According to her, Kano raid was anchored on a judgment delivered on February 16, 2024, by the Federal High Court which ordered the relocation of open drug market traders to the newly constructed Coordinated Wholesale Centre (CWC), known as the Kanawa Pharmaceutical Centre.
Adeyeye clarified that no administrative charges or fines were collected during the Kano enforcement, due to the urgent and court-directed nature of the operation.
She added that Kano was the only State that had built its CWC as mandated by a presidential directive, long before her tenure began.
“In the South, Lagos, Onitsha, Aba, there was no CWC. So our approach was different. We had time to prepare, inspect, and charge offenders according to their violations,” she explained.
“In retrospect, yes, we could have done more inspections or collected administrative fees. But that wasn’t feasible under the circumstances. Even a legal officer was almost killed at the court premises. It was a volatile situation,” she added.
Speaking on the financial situation of the agency, Adeniji Nma, Director of Finance and Accounts, NAFDAC, said the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) had unilaterally classified NAFDAC as a revenue-generating agency and begun sweeping up to 50 percent of all revenue inflows into the federal treasury.
“Because of this, we find it difficult to do most of our operations”, she said.
After the presentation, a member of the Committee, Emeka Idu, requested a detailed breakdown of the revenue generated from each location where fines were collected during the enforcement operations.
The NAFDAC team was unable to provide the breakdown at the hearing. The Committee, consequently, directed the Agency to return with a comprehensive, location-by-location account of the N2.5 billion generated from the raids.
