Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, on Tuesday declared that the National Assembly will not allow any company—local or multinational—to enrich themselves at the expense of human lives by supplying Nigerians with fake, adulterated, or substandard drugs.
Speaking at a public hearing on drug trafficking, substance abuse, and the regulation of alcohol, tobacco, and pharmaceutical industries in Nigeria, Speaker Abbas stressed that corporate profits must never take precedence over national well-being.
Represented by the Chairman of the House Committee on France/Nigeria Friendship Group, Adegboye Kalejaiye Paul, he emphasized the need for transparency and accountability from all stakeholders.
“This is not an exercise for evasive responses or selective disclosures. It is an evidence-based national accountability process. Any attempt to mislead the Committee, withhold information, manipulate data, or submit falsified documents will be treated as contempt of the National Assembly under Section 89 of the Constitution,” he warned.
Speaker Abbas assured Nigerians of the House’s commitment to implementing the outcomes of the investigation, including strengthening regulatory frameworks, imposing stricter penalties for violators, improving port efficiency, and reducing the circulation of harmful substances. He also pledged to enforce ethical advertising, expand public health and rehabilitation programmes, and collaborate fully with strategic global partners such as WHO, UNODC, INL, USAID, and the European Union.
“Nigeria must never again become a dumping ground for toxic substances, criminal and fraudulent drugs, counterfeit medicines, unregulated alcohol, or predatory corporate practices,” he said, noting that the investigative hearing is not a routine legislative exercise but a critical step in addressing one of the country’s most pressing national emergencies.
He said, “Nigeria is dealing with a dangerous and rapidly escalating crisis; one that reaches into every family member, every community, and every geographical source. Drug trafficking and substance abuse are destroying young lives and claiming innocent victims.
“Harmful and unregistered alcoholic beverages are flooding our markets. Unethical tobacco marketing continues to target unsuspecting youths and often endangers Nigerians.
“This problem threatens not only our public health, but also our national security, our economic productivity, and the future of our youth. Across the nation, we are witnessing heartbreaking realities. We see the rising addictions to codeine-based syrups, tramadol, and synthetic narcotics.
“We see fake and expired medicines circulating in our markets and hospitals. We see cheap and highly toxic alcoholic mixtures that continue to damage the health of millions of Nigerians. Tobacco and narcotic products are being marketed in ways that subtly but deliberately appeal to our youth and through a network of compromised ports, terminals, and border systems.
“Illicit drugs continue to find their way into our country. These challenges are deeply connected. They form part of the systemic failure in regulation, enforcement, corporate behaviour, and public awareness.
“Solving them will require not only stronger enforcement, but meaningful policy reforms, institutional accountability, corporate responsibility, and comprehensive public health interventions, adding that the goal is to cover gaps, enforce accountability, strengthen regulations, and protect the Nigerian people.
While stressing the need for concrete measures to tackle drug abuse and trafficking in the country, chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee on Drugs Trafficking and Substance Abuse, Oluwatimehin Adelegbe, said, “We gather under the mandate of the Nigerian people—and under the solemn weight of a national emergency that threatens the soul of our country.
“Substance abuse, illicit drug trafficking, unregulated pharmaceutical distribution, predatory alcohol marketing, and aggressive tobacco promotion have converged into a dangerous crisis. This crisis is stealing the health of our youth, weakening our labour force, destabilizing our communities, and undermining our collective future.”
He said the committee was set up not as a ceremonial exercise, but as a constitutionally empowered intervention, rooted in Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), to seek the truth, expose systemic failures, and recommend strong corrective measures.
According to him, the mission of the committee is to investigate, to protect, to reform and ultimately, to save lives, adding that “this national reality can no longer be ignored, because across the country, cannabis is smoked freely in the street like cigarette, methamphetamine usage is spreading across the Nation at an alarming rate and codeine-based cough syrups are sold like soft drinks.
He said further that tramadol 200mg is trafficked with the same coordination as hard narcotics, cheap and hazardous alcoholic mixtures are destroying young men and women in motor parks, campuses, and marketplaces, tobacco companies continue to exploit loopholes to target minors through flavours, informal retail channels, and deceptive marketing, while substandard pharmaceuticals, fake spirits, and unregistered products flood our markets unchecked.
He lamented that the nation’s ports, airports, and borders has remain vulnerable to trafficking syndicates who exploit weak enforcement systems, while entire communities have been crippled by addiction, crime, and preventable deaths.
The Ondo lawmaker stressed that the country was losing too many lives, too many futures, too many families to drug abuse, adding that “as lawmakers, we must rise to the responsibility placed upon us. The Nigerian people expect answers, solutions, and firm action—not excuses”.
He told the audience that the investigation is not anti-business or witch-hunt, but an accountability session, saying, “We support industries, we value investors, and we welcome innovation. No business model can be allowed to thrive at the expense of Nigerian lives. No profit margin can justify the destruction of our youth. No corporate actor will be permitted to hide behind compliance rhetoric while fuelling an addiction epidemic. Every stakeholder is a partner in protecting Nigeria, and your cooperation is not only expected, but required.”
He said the committee will not accept half-truths, evasions, or attempts to mislead the Committee, saying “anyone who obstructs this process understands the constitutional implications of doing so. We shall, before the wrap-up of this investigation, call for a National conference on this discourse.
He disclosed that the outcome of the investigation will lead to possible reforms to the NAFDAC, NDLEA, Customs, and SON Acts, enactment of the National Alcohol Act, enforcement of “smoke-free spaces, digital tracking of pharmaceutical products & enforcement of drug prescriptions law, legal framework for harm reduction programs, and a strengthened national drug control framework, among others.
He said the findings from the investigation will guide legislative action, executive enforcement, and national policy direction for many years to come.
