National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has rejected reports circulating online that antibiotic amoxicillin has been banned in Nigeria, describing the claims as false and misleading.
Gatekeepers News reports that in a statement issued on Monday and signed by its director-general, Mojisola Adeyeye, the agency said a viral video on social media had wrongly suggested that NAFDAC secretly prohibited the sale and use of the drug across the country. The agency stressed that there is no truth in the report and that no such ban has been imposed.
“NAFDAC has not banned Amoxicillin in Nigeria, either secretly or openly. As a responsible regulatory authority, the Agency publicly notifies Nigerians of any regulatory actions through official channels,” the statement said.
“NAFDAC alerts the public through its Recalls, Safety Alerts, Blacklists, and other safety notices of any substandard, falsified, or affected products requiring regulatory action.”
The agency explained that while it occasionally withdraws specific medicines from circulation, such actions usually apply only to particular brands or batches found to be substandard, falsified, or unsafe. According to NAFDAC, these targeted withdrawals should not be confused with a general ban on the drug itself.
It noted that whenever safety issues arise, the agency releases detailed public alerts containing the names of affected products, manufacturers, batch numbers, and clear guidance for health professionals and consumers.
NAFDAC recalled that in recent months, it had issued safety alerts involving certain brands and batches of amoxicillin-based medicines.
August 2025, Public Alert No. 24/2025 announced the recall of Amoxivue 500mg capsules after laboratory tests revealed low active pharmaceutical ingredient content. In October 2025, Public Alert No. 34/2025 warned against substandard batches of Astamocil and Astamentin suspensions, while Public Alert No. 35/2025 addressed quality concerns involving Annmox and Jawamox suspensions.
The agency clarified that these actions were limited to the affected products and did not amount to a nationwide ban on amoxicillin.
NAFDAC urged Nigerians to disregard unverified information shared on social media and to rely only on official updates released through its verified platforms.
It also advised healthcare providers and patients to always check official recall and safety notices before making treatment decisions, in order to avoid confusion and unnecessary panic.
