Citizens Advocacy for Social & Economic Rights (CASER) has expressed grave concern over the current state of biosafety regulation in Nigeria,
In a press statement signed by Barrister Frank Tietie, Founder & Executive Director, Citizens Advocacy for Social & Economic Rights (CASER) in
Abuja on December 18, 2025 said that the Federal Government’s decision to appoint a Director-General of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) who does not possess the minimum statutory qualification required by law has effectively put the Biotech Regulatory agency in comatose.
Below is a full text of the press statement:
BIOSAFETY IN NIGERIA HAS GONE COMATOSE: ILLEGAL APPOINTMENT OF NBMA DIRECTOR-GENERAL RENDERS ALL APPROVALS AND ACTIONS NULL AND VOID
The Citizens Advocacy for Social & Economic Rights (CASER) expresses grave concern over the current state of biosafety regulation in Nigeria, which has effectively gone comatose following the Federal Government’s decision to appoint a Director-General of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) who does not possess the minimum statutory qualification required by law.
Section 5 of the National Biosafety Management Agency Act, 2015 is clear, categorical and mandatory. It provides that the Director-General of the Agency “shall be a holder of at least a Master’s Degree in biological sciences or other related field.” This requirement is not advisory; it is a condition precedent to a valid appointment. The use of the word “shall” leaves no discretion whatsoever to the appointing authority.
By appointing a person who does not meet this statutory requirement, the Federal Government has acted ultra vires the NBMA Act. The consequence in law is unavoidable: the appointment is illegal, null and void, and incapable of conferring lawful authority on the occupant of the office.
Biosafety regulation is not a routine administrative function. It is a highly specialised, science-driven regulatory mandate involving genetically modified organisms (GMOs), living modified organisms (LMOs), environmental risk assessment, public health protection, food safety, and Nigeria’s international obligations under global biosafety regimes. To entrust such a sensitive national responsibility to a person lacking the requisite grounding in biological sciences is to fundamentally undermine the very purpose of the NBMA Act.
CASER states, without equivocation, that where the head of a statutory agency is appointed in breach of an express statutory provision, every approval, licence, permit, clearance or administrative action taken under that illegality is tainted. In law, one cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand. All approvals and regulatory actions issued by the NBMA under the present statutory breach are therefore open to serious legal challenge and cannot be said to enjoy legitimacy.
This situation places Nigeria at grave risk:
It exposes the country to environmental and public-health dangers;
It undermines investor confidence and regulatory certainty;
It weakens Nigeria’s credibility in international biosafety governance.
It invites avoidable litigation that could invalidate critical regulatory decisions.
CASER calls on the Federal Government to immediately rectify this illegality by complying strictly with the NBMA Act and appointing a Director-General who meets the minimum academic and professional qualifications prescribed by law. Anything short of this amounts to a continuing assault on the rule of law and the precautionary principle that underpins biosafety regulation.
Biosafety is too important to be politicised or trivialised. Compliance with the law is not optional.
CASER remains committed to defending the public interest, environmental safety, and the supremacy of the law in Nigeria.
Signed:
Frank Tietie, Esq.
Founder & Executive Director
Citizens Advocacy for Social & Economic Rights (CASER)
Abuja, Nigeria
