Tension flared in the nation’s capital on Tuesday as members of the Coalition for Unemployed People in Nigeria (CUPN), led by Comrade Nathaniel Isiaku Balogun, staged a protest demanding the immediate sack of the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, over what they described as “gross incompetence and abuse of public office.”

The protesters, who converged on major streets in Abuja, accused the NAFDAC boss of illegally enforcing what they termed an arbitrary ban on sachet alcohol and 200ml PET bottle alcoholic products, allegedly in defiance of existing government directives and legislative resolutions.

Addressing journalists during the protest, Comrade Balogun said the coalition was “terribly appalled by the unwholesome activities” of the NAFDAC Director-General, insisting that the enforcement contradicts the National Alcohol Policy signed into law by the Federal Ministry of Health.

According to him, the action also disregards a presidential directive restraining the agency from further disrupting business premises of affected companies pending the outcome of a joint committee set up to review the matter.

“This hasty enforcement is counterproductive to the economic policy of the Renewed Hope Agenda and capable of stirring civil unrest, especially given its timing,” Balogun stated. “It is throwing the country into needless confusion due to conflicting directives from different government authorities.”

The coalition further argued that the move amounts to a flagrant disobedience of the resolution of the House of Representatives (Reference: NAS/10/HR/CT.33/77c of March 14, 2024), which, after a public hearing with key stakeholders, reportedly restrained NAFDAC from implementing the ban and described it as anti-people.

CUPN maintained that sachet and small PET bottle alcoholic products were introduced as affordable alternatives for low-income adult consumers and should not be criminalized. The group contended that smaller portions discourage abuse rather than promote it and emphasized that locally produced sachet alcohol is manufactured under hygienic conditions and certified by regulatory authorities, including NAFDAC.

The coalition also dismissed claims that sachet alcohol encourages underage consumption, stating that independent empirical research has allegedly contradicted such assertions. It added that industry operators have invested over a billion naira in nationwide campaigns promoting responsible drinking and discouraging underage consumption.

Balogun warned that the enforcement of the ban could lead to massive job losses across the value chain, negatively impact government revenue, and open the market to illicit and smuggled alcoholic products.

While affirming support for pragmatic measures to eliminate unsafe products from the market, CUPN insisted that regulatory decisions must be based on verified empirical evidence rather than “emotional persuasions.”

The protesters called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to act swiftly in the interest of his administration and relieve Prof. Adeyeye of her duties, arguing that her continued stay in office is “no longer in the public interest.”

As of the time of filing this report, NAFDAC had not issued an official response to the protest or the allegations raised by the coalition.

A civil society organisation, the Igbo Mandate Movement Group, has condemned a petition filed against the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, describing it as “frivolous, mischievous and politically motivated.”

The group said the move represents the latest in a sustained campaign allegedly aimed at undermining the political career and public image of one of the South-East’s most prominent lawmakers.

The petition, authored by a former First Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. John Aikpokpo-Martins, was addressed to the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee and the National Youth Service Corps, requesting a review of records relating to Kalu’s professional qualifications and national service history.

In a press statement signed by its National Coordinator, Igboeli Arinze Napoleon, the Igbo Mandate Movement Group said the petition follows a pattern of credential challenges that have trailed Kalu at every stage of his rise. When he was nominated as a Commissioner in Abia State, detractors alleged he had never graduated from the University of Calabar — a claim disproved when Kalu subsequently obtained an LL.M and a Ph.D from the same institution and delivered its 50th Anniversary Convocation Lecture. When he sought election to represent Bende Federal Constituency, it was first alleged he had dodged NYSC service entirely; when that was debunked, the allegation shifted to claims that his NYSC certificate was a forgery — a claim that required a formal letter from the then NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Y.D. Ahmed, to finally extinguish. “The same forces of retrogression have returned with yet another iteration of the same discredited narrative,” the group said.

On the substance of the current petition, the group laid out the facts of Kalu’s 2010 service year. He graduated from the University of Calabar in 1998, but the Nigerian Law School — which then operated only two campuses in Lagos and Abuja — could not the volume of qualified graduates in promptly absorb. The resulting backlog left many law graduates waiting years for admission. Kalu travelled abroad during the wait to acquire further qualifications. Upon returning to Nigeria and being mobilised for NYSC in 2010, he was posted to the Enugu North Local Government Area and served in the office of the Chairman. He participated fully in camp activities, emerged as a Platoon Leader, and was decorated with the Citizenship and Leadership Award.

At the same time — by a remarkable coincidence — his long-awaited Law School admission arrived, placing him at the Enugu Campus in Agbani, just thirty minutes from his NYSC post. Faced with the choice of deferring admission and waiting another three to four years, or abandoning his NYSC service in breach of the NYSC Act, he chose to honour both obligations simultaneously. His primary assignment schedule was organised to allow him to discharge his LGA duties before attending Law School classes. He met all weekly and monthly NYSC clearance requirements, exceeded the mandatory 70% Law School attendance threshold, and was so distinguished academically that he was among only three students selected to serve on the research team of the then Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, the eminent Professor Ernest Ojukwu.

On the legal question, the group argued that any NYSC declarations critics seek to invoke are prospective in nature — they state what “shall not” be done going forward and cannot be applied retroactively to Kalu’s 2010 service. “Laws are not retroactive in nature,” the statement read.

“Such declarations do not carry the force of law and would not survive the scrutiny of an affidavit on oath.” The group added that a call to the Bar is a professional certification, and that corps members across Nigeria routinely acquire professional certifications — in management, cybersecurity, project management, and accountancy — during their service year, with full NYSC knowledge.

Beyond defending Kalu, the group used the statement to call for urgent policy reform. Thousands of Nigerian law graduates still face years-long waits between graduation and Law School admission. The group argued that Kalu’s ordeal — both in 2010 and now, as it is being weaponised against him — exposes a systemic failure that demands a legislative response, one that ensures law graduates can access the Law School in due time and that corps members in the legal profession are not punished for navigating a broken system with initiative and good faith.

“Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu deserves commendation — not condemnation,” the statement concluded.

The group called on the LPDC and NYSC to treat the petition with the contempt it deserves.

*Says citizens’ collective actions key to defeating terrorism

The Deputy Spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Hon. Philip Agbese, has mobilised public support for the Armed Forces’ newly launched Operation Savannah Shield, declaring that collective citizen action remains critical to defeating terrorism across the country.

It would be recalled that the Federal Government, had on Thursday, launched a multi-agency security operation, codenamed “Operation Savannah Shield”, to combat rising insecurity in Kwara State and parts of neighbouring Niger State.

The operation was officially flagged off at the Sobi Barracks in Ilorin by Kwara Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq alongside the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. General Olufemi Oluyede, and the Chief of Army Staff, General Waidi Shaibu, following approval by President Bola Tinubu.

The deployment comes amid renewed attacks by suspected terrorists and bandits in the Kaiama axis of Kwara North and adjoining communities in Niger State, raising concerns over the spread of criminal networks across forested regions in the North-Central.

Speaking at the event, AbdulRazaq described the operation as “a big relief” to residents, particularly in communities affected by banditry and kidnapping.

Earlier in his remarks, the CDS said the operation was a proactive and coordinated response aimed at dismantling terrorist and criminal networks operating within the region.

According to him, the joint task force comprises personnel from the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force, with a mandate to secure lives and property, neutralise criminal elements and disrupt kidnapping activities

Agbese while speaking on the development in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Saturday, lauded the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Oluyede, for initiating what he described as a comprehensive joint military operation aimed at flushing out insecurity in the North Central region.

Agbese observed that the North Central region, particularly, Kwara, Benue, Kogi, Niger, Plateau and Nasarawa had witnessed rising challenge of attacks which had led to displacement of hundreds of inhabitants in recent times.

The lawmaker who is from Benue, one of the affected states, noted that the new operation launched by the CDS demonstrates renewed strategic coordination within the Armed Forces and a clear resolve to restore peace in the country.

According to him, the era of inter-service rivalry within the military is over, noting that improved cooperation among the services signals that the Armed Forces have overcome internal challenges that previously hindered optimal performance.

“The renewed cooperation, where rivalry has become a thing of the past, is a clear indication that the Armed Forces have surmounted internal obstacles that did not help in the past,” he said.

The lawmaker further observed that with the Armed Forces currently enjoying robust support from international stakeholders and partners especially the US, it is incumbent on Nigerians to rise in unity and back the military’s efforts.

Agbese announced the launch of a public advocacy campaign to galvanise nationwide support for the Armed Forces, urging citizens to join hands with security agencies to defeat all forms of terrorism in the country.

“I have always been an ardent supporter of the Armed Forces, even as an ordinary citizen,” he said, adding that he is inspired by the current military leadership and the reform agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to lead sustained public backing for security operations.

He expressed optimism that with sustained cooperation between the government, the military and citizens, Nigeria would decisively overcome its security challenges.

Agbese called on citizens to cooperate and collaborate with the the Nigerian Armed Forces by sharing credible intelligence that will enable the security forces succeed in flushing out the criminal elements terrorising the people.