Category Nigeria News

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has issued a clarification on the status of 101 withdrawn drugs.

A statement released on its official X handle on Tuesday, the agency said the move is to help the public and stakeholders better understand the status and implications of each product category listed.

According to NAFDAC, the terms “withdrawn,” “suspended,” and “cancelled” describe distinct regulatory actions taken to ensure drug quality, safety, and compliance.

Under the clarification, “withdrawn” refers to products whose registration was voluntarily discontinued by the marketing authorisation holder, often for commercial or market-related reasons and not necessarily linked to safety concerns.

“Suspended” denotes temporary halts in registration pending regulatory compliance, while “cancelled” applies to products whose approvals have been fully revoked and are no longer authorised for manufacture, importation, or sale — often due to safety, quality, or poor manufacturing practices.

The agency explained that publishing such lists followed global best practices aimed at preventing counterfeiting and ensuring that delisted products do not remain in circulation.

NAFDAC listed examples across several categories, including antimalarials, antimicrobials, diabetes medicines, eye drops, and injectables.

Among the affected products were Artemether/Lumefantrine 40mg/240mg Tablets and ASAQ (Artesunate Amodiaquine Winthrop) Tablets, both withdrawn voluntarily by Healthline Limited and Sanofi Aventis Nigeria Ltd, respectively, for commercial reasons.

Other affected drugs included Flagyl Suspension and Tablets (400mg), which are no longer approved for manufacture or sale, and Norditropin Growth Hormone Injectables, which have been delisted following regulatory review.

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In the diabetes category, Januvia and Janumet have been withdrawn from the market, while Amaryl M Tablets and Amaryl M SR were voluntarily withdrawn by Sanofi Aventis Nigeria Ltd.

NAFDAC reaffirmed its commitment to public safety.

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has assured stakeholders that the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) will not affect its operations.

Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Brief, on Tuesday, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, expressed optimism that the ongoing negotiations between the Federal Government and ASUU under the leadership of the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, would produce fair and positive outcomes.

“As you are aware, the strike has only just commenced, and I know that under the excellent leadership of the Honourable Minister for Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, the negotiations will continue to move forward,” Sawyerr said.

The FUND at the weekend approved a final reopening of its loan application platform, to enable tertiary institutions yet to complete their student verification exercise to do so.

A statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Friday by Director, Strategic Communications of the Fund, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, said the portal would be accessible from 12:00 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12, to 12:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 14.

The extension, she said, was intended to ensure that all eligible students were duly captured and verified by their respective institutions as part of the ongoing 2024/2025 NELFUND loan application process.

Sawyerr added that NELFUND remained confident that the ministry’s plans “will seek to be fair and equitable and will derive the right results,” assuring that the development “will not impact our operations because what the Federal Government has done with NELFUND is put a scheme in place that will address in many ways some of the issues in education.”

“I don’t think this should be jeopardised at all,” he continued. “Even though the funding that NELFUND is providing is for students, the rest of the ‘pie,’ if you like, is also being addressed by the excellent leadership of Dr. Tunji Alausa. So I would not want to preempt those discussions, those negotiations, those positions.”

He emphasised that the agency does not want students to be negatively affected by the strike, stressing the importance of monitoring developments closely before making any pronouncements.

“The reality of it is that we don’t want to see students affected negatively in any way,” he said. “Having said that, we need to be very close to the discussions and look closely at how this unfolds for us to begin to make pronouncements as to what will be affected by NELFUND.”

He explained that the agency is seeking guidance from the Minister of Education on how to proceed, noting that the strike discussions are ongoing.

“We are seeking guidance from the Honourable Minister, who is our leader in this regard, and I will take guidance from him as to the way this should move forward,” Sawyerr said. “As of today, it will not affect upkeep, but the negotiations are ongoing, and we must be responsive to that.”

He maintained that NELFUND, as part of the current administration, is focused on complementing other efforts to ensure that education continues to work effectively in Nigeria.

“I don’t want to make any pronouncements till I hear from the Honourable Minister, who will provide guidance because this is all part of the package to ensure education must work in Nigeria,” he concluded.

His comments come as ASUU dismissed the Federal Government’s ‘No Work, No Pay’ directive, insisting that the union will not be intimidated by threats.

ASUU President, Chris Piwuna, stated this on Monday while speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

According to him, the union remained united and would not succumb to what he described as the government’s attempt to divide the academic community.

“We don’t respond to threats, and nobody can threaten us,” Piwuna said.

Piwuna maintained that all academic bodies, such as the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) and the Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA), were standing together in support of the strike action.

‘No Work, No Pay’

On Monday, the Federal Government directed universities to implement the ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy against lecturers participating in the ongoing two-week warning strike.

The directive was contained in a circular dated October 13, signed by the Education Minister.

The Minister expressed the government’s displeasure over ASUU’s decision to embark on a nationwide strike despite ongoing negotiations and appeals for dialogue.

As a way of giving back to oil-producing communities, the Federal Government said it has embarked on a total of 536 community projects across the Niger Delta.

In a statement on Monday, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) noted that the projects are being held simultaneously in the region.

It cited a case of before and after photos of a school in Obagi oil-producing community in Rivers State.

“The school is just one out of the 536 community projects being handled simultaneously through the Host Community Development Trust (HCDT).”

Delivered projects include a two-storey classroom block comprising 18 fully furnished classrooms, the remodelling of Ogbogu Cottage Hospital with a 20-bed capacity and new diagnostic centre, and the upgrade of the Ogbogu Ultra-Modern Civic Centre.

Others include road pavements at Oboburu community, a bottled and sachet water factory in Amah community, and the installation of gas skid plants and school renovations in Erema and Akabuka communities.

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According to the Commission, the HCDT has risen to ₦373bn as of October 13, 2025, in accordance with section 235 of the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021, which mandates settlors (oil companies) to incorporate HCDT for the benefit of host communities where they operate.

A statement signed by the Commission’s Head of Media and Strategic Communications, Eniola Akinkuotu, also said the fund comprises ₦125bn and $168.9m, contributed by oil companies operating under the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021.

The HCDT requires oil companies to deposit three per cent of their operating expenditures of the preceding financial year into a trust fund, which will be housed in a bank with a BBB rating.

While the NUPRC does not have direct access to the funds, it monitors the fund through a dashboard known as HostComply.

The Commission also monitors the implementation of the fund as mandated by the extant laws, in line with the PIA.

Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court Abuja has fixed October 16 for ruling on whether the Managing Director of SunTrust Bank, Halima Buba, can cross-examine the EFCC’s witness on issues raised while giving his evidence-in-chief.

Justice Nwite adjourned the trial following an objection raised by the Counsel to the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, against a question directed to its witness by Johnson Usman, SAN, who appeared for Buba in the Alleged Money Laundering Charge.

While cross-examining the first prosecution witness, mister Sulieman Ciroma, the owner of Funnacle BDC Ltd, the defence lawyer had asked him to confirm to the court the names of those who collected the money in United States dollars from Mrs Aisha Achimugu, the MD of Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Ltd.

Earlier, Usman asked Ciroma to confirm that Mr Hassan Dantani is the MD/CEO of Ashrap Energy Oil Ltd and the witness answered in affirmative.

The witness also confirmed that Dantani is the MD/CEO of Ashrap BDC Ltd when he was asked by the lawyer.

The witness equally confirmed that Trimisi is the director of Triple A and D BDC Ltd.

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The anti-graft agency’s lawyer argued that the fact in issue before the court as contained in the charge, substantially bordered on allegations of cash transactions.

He submitted that the question put to the witness was not relevant in issue or remotely connected to the facts in issue.

“My lord, there are two separate legal entities that are involved or that have featured.

“They are Ashrap Energy Oil Services Ltd which is contained in the charge before your lordship and the Ashrap BDC now being introduced by the defence to the witness.”

He said though the word, “Ashrap” featured in the two entities, they are different companies.

“The case of the prosecution as contained in the charge in which the defendants are only entitled to defendants are transactions conducted by Ashrap Energy and Oil Services Ltd.

“The core issue for determination in this case is that those transactions, which perforce, exceeded the legal threshold were conducted without going through financial institutions.

“I refer your lordship to Section 21(a), Section 2(1), and Section 19(1)(d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition and Prevention Act.

“Furthermore, by the provision of that law, the financial institutions as defined are not only limited to commercial banks but also extended to registered and licensed BDC firms regarded as authorised dealers,” he said.

Oyedepo argued that the attempt by Usman to cross examine Ciroma on the question was not only to mislead the witness but to also introduce a strange fact that was not in issues between the parties.

But Usman vehemently disagreed with Oyedepo ‘s submission.

“My lord, the effect of the entire argument of my learner brother is that the defendants standing trial should kowtow to his charge and lead evidence in support of the charge.

“The defendants, having pleaded not guilty, have shifted the burden of proof on the prosecution. In effect, they denied liability 100 per cent,” he said.

Citing Section 223 of the Evidence Act, he enumerated the purpose of a cross examination in a trial.

The lawyer, who cited Section. 215(2) of Evidence Act, said though a cross examination must relate to relevant facts, he argued that the law equally “states that this need not be confined to what the witness testified in his examination-in-chief.”

Usman further argued that while giving his evidence-in-chief, Ciroma mentioned that Dantani and Trimisi collected the money from Mrs Achimugu.

“My lord, we are only referring to what he had said earlier as can be seen in the record of proceedings.

“He said Dantani of Ashrap and Trimisi collected the USD and credited her (Achimugu’s) account with naira equivalent,” he said.

The lawyer expressed surprise that Oyedepo did not interrupt him while he was earlier questioning the PW-1 about Dantani and Trimisi only to raise objections on how the money was received.

“Having regard to this, I humbly urge my lord to discountenance this objection.

“It is an objection attempting to muscle the defendants from defending themselves.

“I urge your lordship to direct the witness to answer my question,” Usman said.

Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until Oct. 16 and Oct. 17 for ruling and continuation of trial.

Buba and her co-defendant, Innocent Mbagwu, the Executive Director/Chief Compliance Officer of SunTrust Bank, are being prosecuted on money laundering offences to the tune of $12 million.

The Federal Government has imposed the no-work, no-pay policy on striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

This was contained in a circular dated October 13 and signed by the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa.

Alausa expressed the Federal Government’s displeasure with ASUU’s decision to embark on a nationwide strike despite ongoing negotiations and calls for dialogue.

He, therefore, directed vice-chancellors of federal universities to implement the no-work, no-pay policy against ASUU members participating in the ongoing nationwide strike.

Roll-Call Of Workers

Governor Dauda Lawal has reaffirmed the Zamfara State Government’s commitment to continuing its partnership with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

The governor attended the 2025 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction and the launch of the related strategy on Monday at the NAF Conference Centre in Abuja.

A statement by the governor’s spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, revealed that Vice President Kashim Shettima, led the official launch of NEMA’s strategic plan (2025 – 2029), the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategy (2025 – 2030), and the Action Plan (2025 – 2028).

The statement added that the event with the theme ‘Fund Resilience, Not Disaster’ gathered all stakeholders across Nigeria.

In his goodwill message, Governor Lawal praised NEMA for organising a timely dialogue and for their dedication to enhancing Nigeria’s disaster risk management framework.

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He said: “Disasters occur in a vicious cycle where one disaster fuels another. Our experience underscores the saying that no risk is truly isolated; it is interconnected, and managing it requires a strategic approach.

“Therefore, I also commend you on the formal Launch of your 5-year strategic plan, tagged “The National Disaster Risk Strategy 2025 to 2030.

“As we launch the Strategic Plan and deliberate on funding models, I urge all stakeholders to deepen collaboration and ensure that no stakeholder is left behind in our collective effort to build a safer, more resilient Nigeria.

“The theme of today’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, ‘Fund Resilience, Not Disasters,’ must be transformed into concrete plans during this roundtable.

“To ensure sustainability, it is crucial to build resilience in funding, as disaster management is a dynamic and evolving process. Funding mechanisms should be dynamic, flexible, and readily available.”

Governor Lawal further added that Zamfara faces many disasters and emergencies, both natural and man-made, such as insecurity, fires, displacement, mining shaft collapses, floods, and other adverse effects of climate change, among others.

“Through it all, we can always count on NEMA to be there as part of the management, recovery, reconstruction, and mitigation efforts. Therefore, I thank you on behalf of the Government and People of Zamfara State for your efforts and interventions and for always being there in our times of need.

“The Zamfara Emergency Management Agency (ZEMA) has been granted greater powers to enhance its emergency response. We are integrating disaster risk management into governance through early warning systems, community engagement, and institutional reforms, as we believe systemic resilience starts at the sub-national level.

“Before I conclude, I want to express our sincere appreciation to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, for his leadership during these challenging times.