The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has called on the Federal Government to immediately suspend the renewed enforcement of the ban on alcoholic beverages in sachets and small PET bottles, warning that the action threatens jobs, investments, and confidence in Nigeria’s regulatory system.

NECA described the enforcement drive by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) as a serious regulatory misstep, saying it contradicts both a December 15, 2025 directive from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) suspending the ban and a House of Representatives resolution of March 14, 2024, which urged restraint and broader stakeholder engagement.
In a statement, NECA Director-General Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, said the renewed clampdown was already disrupting legitimate businesses, unsettling investments, and placing thousands of jobs across the wines and spirits value chain at risk, at a time when the economy is under severe strain.

He warned that the development sends a negative signal to investors about policy consistency and respect for due process, stressing that regulatory unpredictability could further weaken an economy battling high operating costs, currency pressures, and declining consumer purchasing power.
While reaffirming NECA’s support for the protection of minors and strong public health outcomes, Oyerinde said the current approach was misdirected, disproportionately targeting compliant manufacturers while failing to address the real drivers of underage access and the spread of illicit substances.

“The products now being targeted were tested, registered and approved under NAFDAC’s own scientific procedures, with alcohol content clearly labelled and within internationally recognised standards,” he said, adding that portraying them as inherently dangerous without new scientific evidence raises serious questions about regulatory consistency and fairness.
NECA argued that underage drinking is fundamentally an enforcement failure at the retail level, not a packaging issue, and called for stricter licensing, monitoring, and sanctions against erring retailers rather than blanket bans that could push consumers into the unregulated market.

Oyerinde warned that eliminating legal packaging formats would not eliminate demand but instead expand the informal economy, worsen public health risks, and shrink government revenue, while enforcement attention is diverted from more dangerous illicit drugs and abused pharmaceuticals circulating among young people.

The employers’ body urged the government to return to structured, evidence-based dialogue involving regulators, industry players, public health experts, and consumer groups, insisting that Nigeria needs smarter, data-driven regulation, not abrupt actions that undermine jobs, investment, and the rule of law.