CAPPA lauds $110m fine on British tobacco

The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has commended the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC)’s $110 million fine on British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) and its subsidiaries over serial violation of the nation’s laws including the National Tobacco Control Act, 2015.

The FCCPC had in a statement on Wednesday disclosed that the commission on August 28, 2020, opened an active investigation of BATN and its affiliates for which it “gathered, received and procured substantial evidence from forensic analysis of electronic communication and other information/data.”

In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday by Robert Egbe, Media and Communication Officer of CAPPA, it described the fine and other associated actions in the Consent Order as a milestone in the quest to make corporations accountable for their flagrant violations of the nation’s laws and statutes.

CAPPA Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi said: “We applaud the FCPC for this precedent-setting action. We have consistently advocated that BAT and their ilk should be made to pay for their disregard for our laws and the promotion of an addictive, cancer-causing product to our youths and our people.

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“To us, this action sends strong warnings to other tobacco companies in Nigeria and other corporations behind products that compromise public health that justice may be slow in coming, but it will surely catch up.”

CAPPA, however, expressed sadness that with the Consent Order, BAT and its officials have evaded criminal prosecution while details of their infractions are buried in opaque legalese.

“Nigerians need to know the full details of BAT crimes that made it willingly agree to dole out $110 million rather than face prosecution. No amount of fine can atone for actions that compromise public health and undermine the economies of nations. This is a slap on the wrist.

“We, nonetheless, see this fine as a welcome step, in the right direction but we reiterate our call for the comprehensive probe of what BATN benefited from the Export Expansion Grant with a view to recouping such funds to our national purse,” Oluwafemi added.