Global Soap Sues NAFDAC, Demands N5bn Compensation

The Global Soap and Detergent
Industries Limited, Ilorin has sued the
National Agency for Food, Drug
Administration and Control (NAFDAC)
for alleged unlawful closure.
The soap and detergent company
instituted the legal action against
NAFDAC at the federal high court, Ilorin
demanding N5 billion general damages
for alleged unlawful closure of the
industry.
The originating summons filed by the
counsel to the soap industry, Malam
Yusuf Ali (SAN), said that since alleged
unconstitutional closure of the industry
on May 16, 2014, it has been losing
about N60 million on weekly basis on
account of maintenance, overhead and
loss of income on production of its
various products.
The company also asked the federal
high court for injunction restraining the
agency or any of its agents or officers
from further disturbance, closure or
interfering with the production activities
of the factory premises at Asa Dam
Road, Ilorin.
The counsel to the industry, who said
that NAFDAC did not notify the industry
of any contravention of the Act or
Regulation, ordered the court to lift the
closure of the soap company and open
it immediately.
He also said that the unlawful closure of
the soap industry has thrown about 200
staff among others who derive livelihood
from it into economic crisis, adding that
they had been rendered economically
inactive.
In an affidavit in support of the
originating summon, the factory/plant
manager of the soap factory, Mr. Julius
Adediran, said, “without any prior
notification, the defendant through its
officers and agents, in a commando
manner, stormed the plaintiff’s factory
at Asa Dam Road, Ilorin on May 16,
2014, disrupted the plaintiff’s
operation/production, took away some
of its workers and ultimately shut down
the factory and all the production lines.”
He also alleged that NAFDAC’s conduct
had opened the plaintiff to
unquantifiable loss in terms of goodwill,
reputation and ability to meet up its
obligations to members of the public.
The factory/plant manager also said
that it may become practically
impossible to fully resuscitate machines
and resume production if the soap
factory is allowed to remain unused for
long, “due to the complex configuration
and layout of the machine and factory
lines.”