Key Highlights
- The Senate on Tuesday passed the NAFDAC Act amendment bill.
- The amendment seeks to further empower the Agency to carry out its functions and to bring it in line with present realities.
- The bill was passed after scaling third reading at the Senate during today’s plenary
The Nigerian Senate has passed a bill that seeks to amend the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control Act to empower the agency to carry out its functions in line with the present-day realities.
The Senate passes the bill on Tuesday after its third reading during plenary. The legislation which is sponsored by Goodluck Nanah Opiah seeks to substitute existing provisions with new ones.
The bill also seeks to include the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and Controller-General of Customs as part of the Governing Council.
The amendment seeks to include a 15-year experience as a requirement for the appointment of a Director General of NAFDAC.
The Bill: Clause 7 proposes an amendment of section 25 by increasing the fines to be paid for obstructing an officer on duty from N5,000 to N100,000.
It states that (1) A person who obstructs an officer of the Agency in the performance of his duties under section 24 or any provisions of this Act or any regulations made thereunder shall be guilty of an offense and liable on conviction to a fine of not less than N100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not less than one year but not exceeding three years or to both such fine and imprisonment.”
Subsection 3) of the act also stipulates that where there is no penalty specified under the act, the person shall be liable to a fine of N100,000,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both such fine and imprisonment.”
The bill also amends Section 9 (Staff of the Agency) by inserting the words “with not less than 15 years’ experience” after the word “drug”.
The former reads “(1) There shall be appointed for the Agency by the President, on the recommendation of the Minister, a Director-General who shall be a person with good knowledge of pharmacy, food, and drugs.
The amendment reads “(1) There shall be appointed for the Agency by the President, on the recommendation of the Minister, a Director-General who shall be a person with good knowledge of pharmacy, food, and drugs with not less than 15 years’ experience.”
