NAFDAC, PCN direct distributors to stop drug supply to Kano market

By Biola Adebayo On Feb 18, 2024

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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), as well as the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), have directed manufacturers, importers, medical representatives, and all distributors of Pharmaceutical drugs to stop supplying medical products to patent medicines dealers on Niger Street and Sabon Gari Market, Kano State.

The directive was issued in a joint statement by NAFDAC and PCN and published on NAFDAC’s official X handle on Sunday.

They said the rationale behind the directive was to prevent the distribution of substandard and falsified medicines in the state.

They however warned that any erring company risks losing its site license as well as the product license.

“ NAFDAC and PCN warn manufacturers, importers, medical representatives, and all distributors to from this very moment cease supplying pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and other regulated pharmaceutical products to facilities, companies in Niger Street, Sabon Gari Market, or elsewhere outside the Coordinated Wholesale Centre in Dangwauro, Kano,” the statement read in part.

This follows the judgment of a Federal High Court on Friday, which ordered the medicine merchants to immediately vacate the Sabon Gari Market and relocate to the coordinated Wholesale Centre in Dangwauro, Kano State.

Members of the Nigerian Association of Patent Proprietary Medicine Dealers had approached the court asking it to stop their forceful relocation from their registered business premises in Sabon Gari to the new location against their wish.

However, delivering judgment in the case, Justice Simon Amobeda held that the suit was lacking in merit and the plaintiffs have no locus standi to challenge the relocation by the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, a body empowered to regulate their business.