Tobacco industry influence on Nigeria’s public health worsens, CAPPA report reveals
Nigeria’s fight against tobacco-related harm has suffered a setback, with the newly released 2025 Nigeria Tobacco Industry Interference (TII) Index showing rising influence of tobacco companies in policy spaces meant to protect citizens. The country’s interference score worsened from 60 in 2023 to 62, placing Nigeria 54th out of 100 countries assessed globally.
The report, launched on Thursday by Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) in Lagos, documented how tobacco companies exploit regulatory gaps, presenting themselves as partners in national development while promoting products that claim an estimated 29,000 Nigerian lives annually and cost ₦634 billion in healthcare and lost productivity.
CAPPA Executive Director Akinbode Oluwafemi said the industry uses corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives—including donations of boreholes, scholarships, fish farms, and reforestation projects—to improve public image and gain access to government officials, in violation of national laws. He also criticized the industry’s participation in policymaking and the promotion of new nicotine products, describing it as “deeply troubling.”
The report highlighted selective government enforcement, citing the 2023 US$110 million fine against British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) and the ban on smoking glamorisation in Nollywood as positive steps, while pointing to setbacks like the suspension of tobacco excise taxes. CAPPA Assistant Executive Director Zikora Ibeh said inconsistent policies allow the industry to circumvent rules meant to keep it out of policymaking.
To address the issue, the report urged the Nigerian government to enforce prohibitions on tobacco industry funding of public institutions, strengthen conflict-of-interest safeguards, implement pictorial health warnings covering 60 percent of tobacco packaging, restore tobacco taxes to WHO and ECOWAS standards, and exclude the industry entirely from policymaking processes.
Oluwafemi stressed that tobacco control is both a public health and governance issue, noting that the integrity of Nigeria’s institutions is at stake if harmful corporate influence continues to shape policy. The findings cover April 2023 to March 2025 and are part of a global civil society-led initiative grounded in Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
