The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission have renewed their Memorandum of Understanding to deepen coordination in protecting Nigerian consumers, as the NAFDAC Director General publicly praised the FCCPC’s leadership for what she described as an exceptional standard of responsiveness that set the benchmark for how regulatory collaboration should function in practice.
NAFDAC Director General Professor Mojisola Adeyeye commended FCCPC Executive Vice Chairman Tunji Bello specifically for the speed with which he had acted on two separate complaints she raised about regulatory violations, noting that in both cases the affected businesses took corrective action almost immediately after she reached out. She described that level of institutional responsiveness as exactly how the system was supposed to work, and said Nigerian consumers deserved the same level of regulatory protection available to consumers in other countries.
The renewed MOU establishes stronger coordination mechanisms between the two agencies, including clearer information-sharing protocols, streamlined complaint handling that removes the burden on consumers of determining which agency to approach, joint investigation frameworks, and deeper technical collaboration. Designated coordination teams within both agencies will manage complaint responses while maintaining transparency for the public.
FCCPC Chairman Bello said the agreement would improve coordination across areas where consumer protection and product safety responsibilities overlapped, describing the ultimate test of the partnership as implementation rather than the document itself. He said the renewal supported capacity building through joint training and closer institutional engagement, and gave consumers and businesses clearer and more predictable expectations about how both agencies would respond to violations.
Adeyeye was direct in her expectations. “Agreements can be signed and left on the shelf, but without implementation, they remain theoretical. What we have seen instead is commitment in action. That is the kind of leadership that makes a difference,” she said.
