Dr. Kingsley Tochukwu Udeh, SAN, has disclosed that separating the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) from that of the Minister of Justice will not stop the office from political influence.

Udeh, who was confirmed as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in plenary on Thursday, said this while responding to questions from senators during his confirmation hearing.

He explained that how the office is run will be determined by the personality of the head of the institution, stating, ?Whether we choose to lump them together or separate as one, it will always be subject to the personality of the occupier.?

However, he cautioned that justice must be dispensed without bias, adding that ?in handling such an office, one must fear God.?

Udeh, who until his appointment was the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in Enugu State, replaces Uche Nnaji as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. Nnaji resigned from office last month over alleged certificate forgery.

He assured the lawmakers that he would add value to President Tinubu?s Renewed Hope administration.

Meanwhile, the lawmakers have mandated and directed the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and other relevant regulatory agencies not to grant any further extension to the moratorium on the ban and prohibition of packaging high-strength alcohol in sachet formats in all parts of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from December 2025.

This was part of resolutions of a motion on the ?need to halt further extension of the phase-out of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachet formats? sponsored by Asuquo Ekpenyong and adopted in plenary.

In addition, it directed the Federal Ministry of Health to ensure that there are no impediments to NAFDAC?s enforcement of the ban, while expediting the conclusion and public release of the National Alcohol Policy that contains a clear and unequivocal prohibition of the packaging of high-strength alcoholic products in sachet formats.

The Senate also asked the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to intensify nationwide sensitisation campaigns on the dangers of high-alcohol-content beverages among youths and school-aged children and to discourage the packaging and consumption of these products in sachet formats.

In 2018, stakeholders, including the Federal Ministry of Health, the FCCPC, NAFDAC, and industry bodies, namely the Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employers, as well as the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria, voluntarily signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) committing to the gradual phase-out of the production and sale of these high-strength alcoholic beverages in these packaging formats due to growing public health concerns over their affordability, portability, easy accessibility, and increasing consumption and abuse among children, adolescents, commercial vehicle drivers, and other vulnerable groups.

But the Federal Government, upon appeal from industry players, granted an additional one-year moratorium in 2024 to enable manufacturers to exhaust existing stock, adjust production lines, and explore compliant packaging alternatives until December 2025, notwithstanding the clear provisions of the MoU and the subsequent directive issued by NAFDAC prohibiting the practice.

?As the deadline of December 2025 approaches, some manufacturers continue to lobby for another extension, thereby undermining regulatory authority, jeopardising public health, and potentially encouraging prolonged proliferation and circulation of these products in harmful sachet packaging formats in our communities,? Ekpenyong noted, adding that ?pushing this moratorium further will impede the full enforcement of the extant powers and responsibilities of NAFDAC as the statutorily empowered regulator in Section 5 and Section 31 of its enabling statute, and also undermine ideals of a fitting National Alcohol Policy thereby weakening Nigeria?s standing as a responsible member of the global community committed to the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations on alcohol harm reduction.? (Daily Sun)

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