NAFDAC, Humanitarian Ministry Clash Over Expired Pallatives

The Humanitarian Ministry and the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration Control (NAFDAC) have gone against each other, giving out differing statements on how some states in the country received expired rice as Coronavirus palliatives.
Recall  that KOKO TV reported how Oyo State rejected 1800 bags of ‘infested and unhealthy’ rice from the FG as pallatives.
Speaking on the items, Humanitarian Minister Ms Sadiya Farouq noted that the food items were handed over by the Nigerian Customs Service after being assessed okay by the NAFDAC. “As you may recall, we mentioned here that we distributed the rice relief to the states. The rice was handed over to us by the Nigerian Customs Service and it was assessed by NAFDAC, who issued a clearance before the goods were released for onward distribution to the states. So, as far as we are concerned, the rice was certified fit for human consumption“, she said in a statement.
Read also: Lobatan! Councillor Disappears With 30 Bags of Rice And Beans Meant For State’s Coronavirus Relief
Giving a counter statement, however, the NAFDAC DG, Mojisola Adeyeye claimed in an interview on Channels Television on Tuesday April 28 that the agency was not invited to test the rice distributed as claimed by the Minister, but was invited to take samples of rice from Idi-Iroko, Ikeja, and Ogun state. She added that the agency was not asked to test and certify the ones in Ibadan from where other South-west states got their allocations. “We got an invitation to sample rice from Idi-Iroko from Ogun and Ikeja Customs. Our staff went to Idi-Iroko and Ogun to sample the rice and they also went to Ikeja to sample rice, some of the samples are still in our lab in Oshodi. We tested the samples and they passed. The one for Oyo State, I cannot say anything because NAFDAC was not called by the Ibadan Command or the South-west command of customs to come and check samples in Ibadan. So, I cannot say anything about the Ibadan Command rice that went to Oyo and possibly to Osun State“, she said.Photos Credit: Getty