Nine days after TheDiggerNews.com asked Nigeria’s food and drug regulator urgent questions about contaminated rice with metal particles in Nigerian markets, NAFDAC has yet to confirm receipt or reply.
In contrast, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) at least acknowledged the inquiry and promised escalation to its Director-General—though that promise remains unfulfilled five days later.
The contrast matters. On July 17, TheDiggerNews.com formally notified both NAFDAC and SON of its published investigation into Bulmex Parboiled Rice — banned in the Niger Republic after iron debris was found in the product, and flagged in NAFDAC’s own Public Alert No. 034/2026 as marketed “particularly in Nigeria,” even as the agency admitted it could not confirm the product’s presence in Nigerian markets.
Both regulators were given until midnight on July 22 to respond. Both deadlines have passed.
SON’s response — a brief acknowledgement from its info desk pledging escalation to the Director-General — arrived within four days. “We acknowledge the receipt of your mail on the above subject matter. It will be forwarded to the office of the Director General for handling.”
This is the bare minimum expected of a public institution formally notified of a food-safety concern within its regulatory remit. It has not been followed by substance.
NAFDAC’s response has been total silence. No acknowledgement. No forwarding notice. No indication the letter was received at all. This is the same agency whose own public alert contains the admission at the centre of this investigation — that it does not know whether contaminated rice, described as sold “particularly in Nigeria,” has already reached Nigerian households.
Why This Matters Beyond One Letter
A regulator’s silence in response to formal public-interest questions is not neutral. It is a choice — and in a food-safety matter involving a population of 242 million people for whom rice is a dietary staple, it is a costly one. Every day without confirmation, explanation, or denial is a day in which consumers cannot know whether the product on their shelves has been tested, traced, or is even being looked for.
The questions NAFDAC has not answered are not abstract. TheDiggerNews.com has asked: Whether the agency has tested imported Indian parboiled rice for heavy metals systematically; whether it has engaged Ghanaian counterparts over documented trade records showing Bulmex rice moving through a western corridor NAFDAC’s own alert never mentions; and whether any product has actually been found in Nigerian markets since the alert was issued on July 12.
Fifteen days after that alert, the public still has no answers to any of them.
SON’s delay, while less alarming, raises its own question: Does a standards body responsible for policing metallic contamination and foreign matter in imported food have the systems in place to respond to a formally documented public-safety concern within the timeframe it set for itself?
The Record Stands
TheDiggerNews.com is publishing this update in the interest of transparency and will continue to press both agencies. NAFDAC’s non-response and SON’s overdue response are now part of the public record of this investigation. Should either agency reply, their responses will be published in full, unedited.
The rice may or may not be in Nigerian markets. What is now confirmed is that the agency built to answer that question has, for nine days, chosen not to answer at all.
Kehinde Adegoke is an award-winning investigative journalist with more than 15 years of distinguished experience uncovering stories that shape public discourse. With three industry nominations across diverse beats, he has earned recognition for fearless reporting, incisive analysis, and a commitment to accountability. As Managing Editor and CEO of TheDiggerNews.com, Adegoke leads a pioneering newsroom dedicated to exposing hidden truths, amplifying marginalised voices, and setting new standards in investigative journalism.
TheDiggerNews.com | www.thediggernews.com | 08039135472 | Ibadan, Nigeria
