The Nigerian tobacco-control community has rejected a bill seeking to amend the National Tobacco Control Act (NTCA) 2015.
The coalition described the proposed amendment as a catastrophic reversal of public-health gains and an attack on young people and future generations.
In a joint statement issued on Friday, the coalition said bill must not be allowed to scale through.
It called on the relevant legislative committees to withdraw the bill immediately and urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to withhold assent should the bill be presented for executive approval.
The coalition argued that the National Tobacco Control Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025 fails to close regulatory gaps or place new tobacco and nicotine products under stricter oversight.
It said instead, it dismantled core protections and created a weaker, commercially permissive regime for electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products, nicotine pouches and other non-combustible products.
“In one of its most embarrassing contradictions, the bill defines non-combustible products to include heated tobacco products, then defines tobacco products to exclude all non-combustible products.
” The legal effect is that a product containing actual tobacco would cease to be treated as a tobacco product merely because it is heated rather than burned,” the statement said.
The groups also condemned provisions reopening tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship through so-called adult publications, point-of-sale promotions, online advertising and supposedly adult events.
Under the bill, an “adult publication” is defined as one in which people older than 18 constitute at least 50 per cent of the readership. As many as half of its readers could therefore be 18 or younger, yet it could carry advertisements for vapes, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches.
The coalition called the threshold unreasonable and detached from Nigeria’s demographic. Citing UNICEF reports, it noted that more than 60 per cent of Nigerians are below 30, more than 70 per cent are under 35, and 43 per cent are aged 15 or younger.
It also referred to a study conducted by the Nigerian Communications Commission, which found that 93 per cent of surveyed children aged 11 to 16 and 45 per cent of those aged 4 to 10 accessed the internet using their own phones.
Against this reality, the groups said, the supposed definition of “adult advertising” would create a lawful route for tobacco and nicotine advertisements to reach young people through newspapers, magazines, blogs and digital platforms.
The coalition described the bill’s other provisions as mind-boggling. While the 2015 Act prohibits tobacco sales through the mail, internet and other online channels, the amendment authorises online purchases, courier deliveries and other remote sales of non-combustible products.
It also permitted their display behind retail counters and allows sampling of vaping products inside enclosed points of sale. Together, the provisions create a complete commercial chain.
“The industry could advertise online, display and sample products in shops, and deliver them to consumers’ homes.
” The assumption that the age verification checks mandated in the bill will protect children and vulnerable people is laughable.
” Research has repeatedly shown how easily these digital checks are bypassed, whether by simply clicking an age pop-up, borrowing identity documents, placing orders through third parties, or having deliveries collected by someone other than the buyer.
“Nigeria also lacks an enforcement system capable of monitoring every social-media advertisement, online transaction, retail display or courier delivery.
“The bill therefore proposes to open channels that regulators will struggle to control after the products have already entered homes, schools and communities,” the groups warned.
They called on health professionals, civil society organisations, the media, development partners and all Nigerians to support efforts to safeguard the integrity of the National Tobacco Control Act.
“Protecting public health is a shared responsibility, and every effort must be made to ensure that Nigeria’s tobacco control laws continue to place the health and wellbeing of its people above commercial interests,” the statement concluded.
The coaltion are Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA),Corporate Accountability and Public Participation in Africa (CAPPA)
Gatefield Impact, Youth Coalition Against Cancer, Nigerian Cancer Society, Call Off Cancer Initiative
Others are Association Of Resident Doctors, Abuja, A New Thing International Foundation ,Oncology Nursing Society of Nigeria, Development Initiative for Society Health, Centre for Youth Inclusion and Development, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre and Trailblazers Initiative.