The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has denied reports credited to the Director-General, Farouk Salim, following the destruction of some substandard products at its facility in Lagos.
The reports had quoted Salim as attributing the influx of substandard products into Nigeria to the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).
However, a statement issued on Saturday by the Director, Public Relations, SON, Fashina Adebola, insisted that the Director-General was misquoted.
The statement reads: “The Management of SON wishes to state unequivocally that it holds the Nigerian Customs Service leadership and officers in very high esteem and have been working in very close collaboration with the Service all over the nation to substantially reduce the importation and distribution of substandard products in Nigerian markets.
“These were publicly expressed by the Director General, Farouk Salim recently in Lagos and Port Harcourt at interactive forums with maritime stakeholders in the two cities.
“The challenge of importation, smuggling, manufacture and distribution of substandard products is hydra-headed, involving some unpatriotic Nigerians and their foreign collaborators and requires the continuous cooperation of all regulatory and security agencies, patriots and quality vanguards.”
Adebola concluded that “Deliberate efforts were made by SON to request the publishers of the erroneous stories to withdraw them from circulation.”
The challenge of importation, smuggling, manufacture and distribution of substandard products is hydra-headed, involving some unpatriotic Nigerians and their foreign collaborators and requires the continuous cooperation of all regulatory and security agencies, patriots and quality vanguards.