The Producers Affiliation of Nigeria (MAN) has referred to as for the rescission of the Nationwide Company for Meals and Drug Administration and Management (NAFDAC) ban on sachet alcoholic drinks.
The director-general of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said this yesterday. He argued the ban contradicts agreements reached within the Nationwide Alcohol Coverage and can result in job losses, lowered financial exercise, and elevated illicit commerce.
NAFDAC has issued a directive to outrightly ban the manufacturing and sale of alcoholic drinks packaged in sachets and small PET bottles by December 31, 2025. This directive adopted a decision reported to have been handed by the Senate at its sitting on November 6, 2025.
Ajayi-Kadir, word that this surprising improvement is discordant with all stakeholders’ efforts on the matter and fully at variance with the present place of the Home of Representatives on the identical matter.
He added that the sooner directive for a one-year extension by the Ministry of Well being, which culminated within the consideration and validation of the draft Nationwide Alcohol Coverage by stakeholders, ought to have been thought of earlier than any main official pronouncement by one other arm of the federal government.
“We additionally consider {that a} stakeholders’ session, both by way of a public listening to or targeted conferences with related stakeholders within the alcohol drinks trade, ought to have been referred to as by the related Senate Committee earlier than a ban is ordered.
This was the route that the Home of Representatives painstakingly adopted within the current previous,” he said.
Ajayi-Kadir emphasised that the problems in regards to the ban on alcohol in sachets and small PET bottles had been resolved by an enlarged Committee comprising all of the stakeholders and NAFDAC representatives, who validated the Nationwide Alcohol Coverage in October 2025.
He added, “We wish to place on file that a number of empirical analysis have dismissed the unfounded and untested assertion of abuse by minors that the federal government independently carried out.
The trade has even gone additional, however the report of the surveys, to provoke a sequence of campaigns in respect of accountable alcohol consumption to discourage underage abuse. These campaigns have necessitated an trade spend of over a billion naira in ads in any respect ranges of media outreach throughout the federation and have been very impactful in discouraging abuse by underage individuals.”
Ajayi-Kadir additional said that the reported directive by the Senate for an outright ban is unfair and in opposition to the run of play within the trade, given the truth that the higher chamber seems solely to have thought of the opinion of NAFDAC, which, essentially, had been a part of the validation that was organised by the company’s supervisory Ministry, the Ministry of Well being.
He added that “this determination might have vital destructive penalties for the economic system, notably at a time when it’s stabilising, saying that potential repercussions embody a lack of over N1.9 trillion in investments by Nigerian corporations, vital layoffs affecting over 500,000 direct workers and about 5 million not directly, and setbacks in manufacturing capability utilisation.
In accordance with MAN DG, we due to this fact make a strident attraction for an expedited endorsement and implementation of the validated Nigeria Nationwide Alcohol Coverage and its multi-sectoral implementation framework.
“We consider that this may make the implementation of the unwarranted ban pointless. We attraction to the Senate to rescind the Order on the ban on the sale of alcoholic drinks in sachets and for NAFDAC to be restrained from implementing the ban from December 31, 2025.
“We ought to be aware of the financial implications of pointless sudden regulatory shifts that might have vital implications for reputable producers, 1000’s of workers and casual worth‑chain operators throughout the nation.”
