Did Minister Farouq lie? NAFDAC denies inspecting rice sent to Oyo by FG

The Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, on Tuesday denied that the agency inspected the bags of rice sent to Oyo State as part of COVID-19 pandemic palliatives by the Federal Government.

According to Prof Adeyeye, NAFDAC does not know the status of the 1,800 bags of rice given to the Oyo State Government by the Federal Government adding that her agency was not invited to take samples and conduct consumption fitness test on the Oyo rice consignment.

The NAFDAC DG spoke on Tuesday on a TVC programme, Journalists’ Hangout.

It would be recalled that the Oyo State Government had said last Friday that it was returning the 1,800 bags of rice given to it by the Federal Government, as the rice was found to be weevil-infested and unfit for human consumption.

However the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, said on Monday that the bags of rice distributed to states were inspected and certified fit for human consumption by NAFDAC.

Adeyeye, while responding to questions on the status of the rice supplied to Oyo State, said only the consignments to Lagos and Ogun States were tested by NAFDAC and certified fit for consumption.

Read also: Regular washing, drying of face masks reduce effectiveness —NAFDAC

Adeyeye said: “The one for Oyo State, I cannot say anything because NAFDAC was not called by the Ibadan or South-West Command of the (Nigeria) Customs, to test samples in Ibadan; so, I cannot say anything about the Ibadan command rice that went to Oyo and possibly to Osun.

“I don’t know why NAFDAC was not called to take samples from the Oyo State Command to test. We were not invited to come and take samples and we cannot do that.

“The ones that we tested (in Lagos and Ogun) were good enough and the rest of the samples are still in the lab in Oshodi.”

Adeyeye further clarified that in the cases of Lagos and Ogun states, it was Customs, and not the state governments, that invited NAFDAC to conduct consumption fitness test on the rice.

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