The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has criticised several directives from the government that ban the production and sale of alcoholic beverages in sachets and PET bottles by NAFDAC.
This comes amid ongoing protests by the Food, Beverages and Tobacco Senior Staff Association and the National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees, who are challenging NAFDAC to present empirical evidence that children are consuming alcoholic beverages in sachets.
The unions, which have renewed calls for a review of the ban, gathered their members again at NAFDAC’s Lagos office yesterday as the protest marked its third day.
Oyibo Jimoh, President of the Food, Beverages and Tobacco Senior Staff Association, denied claims that sachet alcohol leads to underage drinking, stating no data support these claims.
MAN Director-General, Segun Ajayi-Kadir noted that NAFDAC’s enforcement conflicts with a previous resolution by the House of Representatives (NAS /10/HR/CT.33/77c of 14th March 2024).
The resolution, after stakeholder consultations, explicitly prevented NAFDAC from banning the production of alcoholic beverages in sachets and PET bottles.
Furthermore, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) also restricted NAFDAC from enforcing the ban without its approval, as per a December 15, 2025, press release.”
Yet, in the past two weeks, NAFDAC has proceeded to enforce the ban despite these directives,” Ajayi-Kadir said.
He explained that NAFDAC ignored the resolution and acted contrary to the directives from the OSGF, which had ordered a suspension of the ban on December 15, 2025.
Ajayi-Kadir criticised that NAFDAC relied on a Senate resolution lacking stakeholder engagement rather than a unified decision.
This has caused confusion among operators on which directive to follow.
“We have engaged the Senate and trust that they will reconsider after further consultation,” he stated.
The MAN leader urged the government to intervene and instruct NAFDAC to cease disrupting member activities and to abide by the suspension of the ban.
