{
  "id": 6247614,
  "title": "NAFDAC DG advocates stiffer penalties against counterfeit products",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/08/nafdac-dg-advocates-stiffer-penalties-against-counterfeit-products",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-08T05:25:44.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Daily Trust",
    "slug": "daily-trust",
    "url": "https://dailytrust.com/nafdac-dg-advocates-stiffer-penalties-against-counterfeit-products/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has urged for harsher punishments for the manufacture and distribution of bogus regulated items. During a press conference in Lagos, she advocated for life imprisonment or even the death penalty for those involved in such activities. Adeyeye also revealed that NAFDAC had settled debts totaling around N3.2 billion that were inherited when she took office in 2017. These liabilities included approximately N1.6 billion in unpaid taxes, around N700 million owed to staff for international Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) activities, and roughly N400 million that was due to contractors. Adeyeye took swift action to trim the agency's expenses, especially on official travel, in order to allocate funds towards settling these debts. In 2017, NAFDAC had conducted nearly 700 official trips, a significant contributor to the agency's expenses. To curb this, she implemented a policy of halting all travel until the debts were fully paid. By November 2018, the NAFDAC boss had managed to pay off N3.11 billion of the inherited debt, with the remaining funds being deemed fictitious. Her decision to prioritize debt repayment was rooted in her belief that the agency should not remain in debt.",
  "summary": "The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has called for stiffer penalties for the production and sale of counterfeit regulated products, including life imprisonment or the death penalty for offenders. Adeyeye made the call during a press conference in Lagos, where she also disclosed that […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Punch Nigeria",
        "title": "Counterfeit crisis: NAFDAC blames Chinese dealers amid backlash",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/08/counterfeit-crisis-nafdac-blames-chinese-dealers-amid-backlash",
        "published": "2026-09-08T01:04:33.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}