The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, on Wednesday, insisted that the rice distributed to various states were certified by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.
NAFDAC’s Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, had said on Tuesday stated that her agency did not know the status of the 1,800 bags of rice given to Oyo State by the Federal Government after the latter had announced on Monday that NAFDAC certified the rice.
Adeyeye had explained that NAFDAC was not invited to take samples and conduct a consumption fitness test on Oyo rice consignment, a statement that stood at variance with the claims of the Federal Government.
Reacting to NAFDAC’s denial that it certified the rice distributed by the Federal Government, Umar-Farouq declared on Wednesday that she stood by her earlier statements.
The minister, who disclosed this while speaking at the daily briefing on COVID-19 updates by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja, said NAFDAC and the Nigeria Customs Service should sort out the communication gap.
Umar-Farouq said, “On the statement of NAFDAC, we still stand by what we said because this was what was conveyed to us by Customs.
“And a certificate was issued stating that the rice given to us was good for human consumption before we flagged off the distribution in Lagos State.
“We can give you that certificate maybe by tomorrow or later today. So the NCS and NAFDAC, I am sure will sort out this communication gap and report back to this platform.”