NAFDAC confirms return to seaports

Babatunde Scott I

Officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) have returned to the nation’s seaports as directed by the Federal Government.

The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, on Wednesday, confirmed this to journalists in Abuja.

Adeyeye explained that she took up the task in ensuring that officers of the agency were returned to the various ports to prevent illicit, fake drugs and similar products from coming into the country.

She noted that the absence of her officers at the nation’s ports was the main cause of having illicit drugs like tramadol and codeine coming into the country.

According to her, “Returning NAFDAC to our ports is one of the struggles I fought when I assumed duty as the Director-General in November 2017.

“We are back to the ports for the past two and half weeks; there was an abuse of such opportunity in the past.

“Our officers now have a change of attitude on the way they do things.

“Being at the ports to check and prevent entry of illicit drugs is one of our mandates taken away from us before we were reinstated recently.

“We are thinking of the safety of Nigerians, that is why we put a quality management system in place for the benefit of our end users who are the Nigerian populace.”

NAFDAC was removed in February from the ports by the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), in line with a new order issued to NPA by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).

PEBEC had directed NPA to ensure strict compliance to the October 26, 2011, presidential directive on agencies permitted to operate in the ports.