Members of Stand Up Nigeria on Monday staged a protest in Abuja against the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) over the purported enforcement of a ban on sachet alcoholic beverages, describing the policy as “draconian,” economically harmful and poorly justified.
The protest, led by Comrade Okpanachi Jacob, followed a press conference by NAFDAC in which the agency allegedly announced the commencement of enforcement actions against sachet alcohol products nationwide.
Addressing protesters, Jacob said the move by NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, undermines economic recovery efforts under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration and could worsen unemployment and social instability.
“This policy is insensitive to Nigeria’s current economic realities and threatens thousands of jobs across the value chain,” Jacob said. “It is built on contradictions, selective morality and regulatory failures.”
Stand Up Nigeria faulted NAFDAC’s claims on the alcoholic strength of sachet products, insisting that no licensed distillery in Nigeria produces sachet alcohol with 50, 70 or 90 per cent alcohol content.
According to the group, standard alcoholic beverages in the Nigerian market—such as gin, schnapps, rum and bitters—range between 30 and 43 per cent alcohol by volume, in line with international and local regulatory standards.
The group questioned whether NAFDAC failed in its statutory responsibility to test and approve products before registration, or whether the agency was “retroactively criminalising” items it had previously certified.
On underage consumption, the protesters argued that the issue reflects weak enforcement rather than the size of alcohol packaging, noting that all registered alcoholic products carry warnings against sales to minors and pregnant women.
They also dismissed claims that sachet alcohol contributes significantly to environmental pollution, pointing out that sachet packaging is widely used across industries such as water, milk and detergents.
According to them, improved waste management—not prohibition—should be the focus.
Stand Up Nigeria further accused NAFDAC of ignoring more pressing threats to youth health, including the abuse of substances such as tramadol, codeine mixtures and other psychoactive drugs, while singling out sachet alcohol.
The group warned that a sustained ban would lead to massive job losses among factory workers, distributors, transporters, retailers and farmers, as well as the loss of billions of naira in investments.
Among its demands, Stand Up Nigeria called for the immediate suspension of the sachet alcohol ban, an independent investigation into the policy, reopening of sealed factories, and broad stakeholder engagement to develop data-driven regulations.
The protesters urged President Tinubu and the National Assembly to intervene, warning that failure to do so could trigger mass protests across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
