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Chidi Ugwu
The Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), the Initiative for Community Development and Advancement of Social Orientation (ICODASO) and the Cedars Refuge Foundation have urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to refuse assent to the National Tobacco Control Act (Amendment) Bill 2025.
The groups said that the amendments proposed by the promoters of the Bill, if passed into law, will roll back the gains that Nigeria has made since the NTC Act 2015 and its Regulations in 2019 became law.
In the letter dated 19 August 2026, the organisations said that the proposed amendments came as a rude shock to them even as they maintained that the Nigeria’s tortuous road to domesticating the WHO framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) took about 10 years and the provisions in the existing NTC Act and Regulations largely conform with the global standards especially in relation to graphic health warnings on tobacco packs, smoke-free public places and most importantly, advertising and restriction of sale of tobacco products to kids.
Signatories to the letter are Philip Jakpor, Executive Director of RDI, Okeke Anya, Executive Director of ICODASO, and Peter Unekwu, Executive Director of Cedars Refuge Foundation.
They pointed out that the provisions of the existing Act and Regulations and Nigeria’s strides in tobacco control have received global acclaim, including the recent World Health Organization’s Director-General’s Special Award for the African Region won by the National Film and Videos Censors Board (NFVCB) for regulation of tobacco and nicotine product depictions in movies, music videos, and skits.
They expressed concern that the amendments contain dangerous recommendations including the relaxation of strict provisions on advertising and promotion which is exactly what earned Nigeria global acclaim in May 2026.
They also wondered the logic behind the permission of online marketing, point-of-sale displays, remote sales, and event sponsorships for non-combustible and alternative nicotine products, which would cumulatively introduce young Nigerians to smoking and addiction.
Going further, they said they are alarmed that “harm reduction”, an industry spin word, has been recategorized, removing certain non-combustible items like nicotine pouches, vapes and e-cigarettes from principal tobacco definitions.
They drew the attention of the president to recent studies showing that the non-combustible products are the industry’s strategy of replacing one addiction with another with the sole intent of marketing nicotine addiction to the youths.
They therefore urged the president not to sign the Bill into law with the anti-public health amendments but instead, asked him to insist the National Assembly open the amendment to genuine public scrutiny.
They argued that there is no time than now to listen to the voice of Nigerians that are united in the conviction that the provisions in the amended bill would weaken communities, and leave the national economy vulnerable due to untimely deaths that would follow.
