We did not certify rice sent by Customs to Oyo state — NAFDAC

Peter Olaniyi

The National Agency For Food Drug And Administration Control (NAFDAC) has denied claims by the Nigeria Customs Service that it certified the rice sent to Oyo state by the Customs

Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, stated this in a television interview monitored by our reporter yesterday.

Professor Mojisola said while the agency was called to certify the rice in Ogun and Lagos commands, the agency was not called in to certify the rice in Ibadan Customs Command that was shipped to Oyo State.

Her revelation destroyed the claims made by the Customs and the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Hajiya Saddiya Umar Farouq that the rice rejected by Oyo State was certified by NAFDAC.

The Oyo State government had insisted that the rice was full of weevils and was unfit for human consumption, a claim which the Oyo Command of Customs vehemently denied.

But Professor Adeyeye’s revelation seems to have put paid to the raging controversy over the poisonous rice.

“Our staff went to Idiroko and Ikeja to certify the rice there and the rice was found okay,” Adeyeye said.

Speaking further, she said: “The one for Oyo State I cannot say anything because NAFDAC was not called. So I cannot say anything about that because NAFDAC was not called to Ibadan,” she said during the monitored programme.

Asked why NAFDAC officials were not deployed to certify the rice in Ibadan she said:

“I don’t know why NAFDAC was not called to take samples for the Oyo state command.

“The ones we tested were good enough and the rest of the samples are still with us in the lab. The customs invited us in all cases, it is not the state government.”