Adeyeye: NAFDAC raised N2.5bn from Lagos, Onitsha, Aba raids

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it generated ₦2.5 billion from fines during a nationwide clampdown on fake and substandard drugs in major markets across Lagos, Onitsha, and Aba.

Mojisola Adeyeye, director-general of NAFDAC, disclosed this on Tuesday while appearing before the House of Representatives Committee on NAFDAC in Abuja.

“The charges collected were paid directly into a NAFDAC account. The total amount was about N2.5 billion—roughly N2.537 billion,” Adeyeye told the lawmakers.

She explained that the fines were imposed on violators caught during the agency’s large-scale enforcement operations in open markets, where expired, unapproved, and improperly stored drugs were seized.

“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,” she said.

“In addition, regulatory expenses amounted to N1.175 billion. So, out of the N2.537 billion, we have only about ₦207 million left in the account.”

Adeyeye said the crackdown, which lasted up to four weeks in some locations and involved over 1,300 security personnel, uncovered serious threats to public health.

She added that several shop owners were found 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.

Despite the scale of the operation, Adeyeye lamented that NAFDAC is struggling to sustain such efforts due to federal revenue restrictions.

She said that by the end of 2023, the agency had N19 billion in its accounts, but N9 billion was removed before we could access it, and only N4.5 billion was eventually released.