Members of the distillers’ association, operating under the Food, Beverages and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB) and the National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE), have cautioned that the ongoing enforcement by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) could lead to the loss of at least 5.5 million jobs nationwide.
The unions, affiliates of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), raised the alarm on Friday during a protest at NAFDAC’s Lagos office, where they condemned the agency’s directive halting the distribution of certain alcoholic products.
NAFDAC had recently commenced enforcement of a ban on the production and sale of alcohol packaged in sachets and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles below 200 millilitres. The agency had earlier announced, on November 11, 2025, plans to implement a total ban by December 2025, following a Senate directive.
Addressing protesters on Friday, FOBTOB Executive Secretary, Solomon Adebosin, warned that the policy would result in massive job losses across the value chain, affecting both direct and indirect employment.
Adebosin argued that the enforcement contradicts President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises investment attraction and job creation. He also questioned NAFDAC’s justification that sachet alcohol and small-sized PET drinks are easily accessible to minors, insisting that such claims were not supported by empirical evidence.
