The Senate on Wednesday passed for second reading a bill seeking to strengthen Nigeria’s legal framework against counterfeit medical products, fake drugs and unwholesome processed foods.
Leading the debate, the sponsor, Sadiq Suleiman (APC-Kwara North), said the bill sought to repeal the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
Mr Suleiman said that the proposed bill also sought to prohibit the use of toxic substances to quicken the natural process of maturity of fruits and to review penalty provisions for hawking drugs, poison and other food products.
He noted that the bill would establish a more comprehensive legal framework to regulate counterfeit medical products, fake drugs and unwholesome processed foods.
Mr Suleiman said that every Nigerian deserved genuine, safe and effective medicines, lamenting that criminal networks had continued to profit from counterfeit products at the expense of innocent lives.
