The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye on Wednesday, 30 July, 2025 disclosed that the agency the generated N2.5 billion from its recent clampdown on illicit drug markets in Lagos, Onitsha, and Aba, reports thegazellenews.com.
Adeyeye added that the funds were fines collected from traders found guilty of selling fake or substandard drugs during recent enforcement actions in open markets across the country.
Adeyeye disclosed this at an interactive session with the House of Representatives Committee on Food and Drug Administration and Control.
According to her, all funds were paid directly into NAFDAC’s official account, adding that N996 million was spent on enforcement operations, N159 million was borrowed from a donor grant, and N1.175 billion went to regulatory expenses.
Adeyeye, who disclosed that the agency was left with about N206 million after deductions added that agency also deployed over 1,300 security personnel for the operation and uncovered widespread violations ranging from expired and unapproved drugs to poor storage practices.
“The charges collected were paid directly into a NAFDAC account. The total amount was about N2.5 billion—roughly N2.537 billion.
“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. In addition, regulatory expenses amounted to N1.175 billion. So, out of the N2.537 billion, we have only about N207 million left in the account”, she said.
Adeyeye said the enforcement drive, which lasted up to four weeks in some locations, uncovered serious threats to public health, saying some shop owners were caught 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.
She, however lamented that the agency’s inability to sustain such critical operations is being crippled by severe revenue restrictions imposed by the Federal Government.
While decrying the financial constraints facing the agency, Adeyeye explained that at the end of 2023, NAFDAC had N19 billion in its accounts.
The DG however noted that N9 billion was removed before the agency could access it, and only N4.5 billion was eventually released.
Chairman of the committee, Regina Akume, noted that the agency’s presentation was incomplete.
“The work has not been completed. I would like to give you a chance to go back and work on this. How much was paid into your account? What goes in and what goes out? We haven’t talked about that,” she said.
The committee, consequently, directed the agency to return with a comprehensive, location-by-location account of the N2.5 billion generated from the raids.
