The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has raised concerns that the country’s manufacturing sector is about to witness another crisis over the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)’s decision to ban the production and sale of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and PET bottles by December 31, 2025.
Director General of the Association, Segun AjayiKadir, in a statement yesterday in Lagos, stressed that it was concerning to note that the development is dissonant to all stakeholders’ efforts on the matter and completely at variance with the subsisting position of the House of Representatives on the same matter.
He added that the earlier directive for a one-year extension by the Ministry of Health, which culminated in the consideration and validation of the draft National Alcohol Policy by stakeholders should have been considered before any major pronouncement by another arm of the government. “We also believe that a stakeholders’ consultation, either through a public hearing or focused meetings with relevant stakeholders in the alcohol beverages industry, should have been called by the relevant Senate Committee before a ban is ordered.
“This was the route that was painstakingly followed by the House of Representatives in the recent past,” he said. Ajayi-Kadir emphasized that the issues concerning the ban on alcohol in sachets and PET bottles were resolved by an enlarged Committee comprising all the stakeholders and NAFDAC representatives, who validated the National Alcohol Policy in October 2025 with the recommendations such as multi-sectoral action plans, tightening of enforcement by law enforcement agencies, establishment of licensed liquor stores/ outlets in local government areas across the country, increase in monitoring and compliance checks by NAFDAC, FCCPC and others to ensure strict product quality in terms of content and safety, and ensuring regulatory bodies place more emphasis on regulation, monitoring and enlighten ment campaigns to educate stakeholders and the general public on the dangers of underage consumption of alcohol and its sales in motor parks.
The MAN DG stated: “Additionally, we would like to place on record that the unfounded and untested statement of abuse by minors, has been dismissed by several empirical research that were independently conducted by the government.
The industry has even gone further, notwithstanding the report of the surveys, to initiate series of campaigns in respect of responsible alcohol consumption in order to discourage underage abuse. “These campaigns have necessitated an industry spend of over a billion Naira in advertisements at all levels of media outreach across the federation and has been very impactful in discouraging abuse by under-age persons.”
