The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has renewed its call on the Federal Government to significantly increase budgetary allocation for tobacco control.

CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, made the call in a statement signed by Robert Egbe, Media and Communications Officer, CAPPA, yesterday in Abuja.

Oluwafemi said Nigeria’s current budgetary allocation remained grossly inadequate to address the growing public health threat posed by tobacco and emerging nicotine products.

He urged the government to raise the annual tobacco control allocation to at least N300 million and ensure sustained increases in subsequent budgets.

He said current funding levels fell far short of what is required to effectively implement the National Tobacco Control Act (NTCA) 2015.

Meanwhile, CAPPA’s has highlighted how international tobacco and allied companies are exploiting policy gaps to flood the Nigerian market with highly addictive novel products. The highlight is contained in its new report, “New Smoke Trap: New and Emerging Nicotine and Tobacco Products, Youth Exposure and Policy Gaps in Nigeria”.

Oluwafemi said the products included electronic cigarettes, vapes, and other smokeless nicotine devices, targeted at young Nigerians.