How to know a fake NAFDAC number

What a NAFDAC number is

When NAFDAC registers a product, it issues a NAFDAC Registration Number, often written as NRN. The number appears on the label. NAFDAC's labelling guidelines for drugs made in Nigeria list it among the minimum details on a pack, together with the batch number, manufacturing date and expiry date.

Each number belongs to one product. The same guidelines say a separate application is submitted for each product. The Cikatem case below shows that a tablet and a suspension of one brand carry different numbers.

A counterfeiter can copy the digits. They cannot change the official record, which still names the product NAFDAC issued the number to. That record is how you catch a borrowed number.

Three ways fake NAFDAC numbers show up

NAFDAC public alerts from 2025 and 2026 describe the same few patterns.

A number taken from a different product

In Public Alert No. 37/2025, NAFDAC reported falsified Betaclox (ampicillin and cloxacillin) printed with NRN A4-4724. That number belongs to Mebendazole 500mg made by Chi Ltd. NAFDAC called it "a clear case of misappropriation of a registration number".

In Public Alert No. 023/2026, counterfeit proguanil tablets sold as Projeanil and Re-Granil both carried NRN 04-6433. NAFDAC said that number belongs to Feroglobin B12 capsules from Vitabiotics Nigeria.

Dubawa, a Nigerian organisation that verifies public claims, found the same pattern on two herbal bitters. The number on one bottle belonged to a balm. The number on the other belonged to a cough syrup.

A number from the same brand, for a different form

In Public Alert No. 05/2025, falsified Cikatem suspension (artemether and lumefantrine) carried NRN A11-100025. That number was issued to Cikatem tablets, not the suspension. A consumer complaint led NAFDAC officers in Kano to the product.

This pattern is the hardest to spot. The brand name on the pack matches the record. Only the form or the strength is wrong.

A number NAFDAC never issued

In Public Alert No. 030/2025, NAFDAC said Ciprofit 500 (ciprofloxacin) tablets were not in its registered products database and the registration numbers printed on them were false, as News Express reported. The same report says the batches came from licensed vendors and wholesalers.

Why a fake number matters

A product with a borrowed or invented number has not been through NAFDAC's evaluation. In the proguanil alert, NAFDAC said such products have not been tested in a laboratory, and their quality, safety and efficacy cannot be assured.

For antibiotics, the harm goes further. In the Betaclox alert, NAFDAC warned that patients could receive ineffective treatment, their illness could persist or get worse, and resistance to antibiotics could grow.

Reports from the public make a difference. The falsified Betaclox moved from Gambori Market in Maiduguri to a distributor in Kano and a retailer in Zaria. The retailer reported it. In the Cikatem case, NAFDAC officers placed 17,280 bottles on hold at the manufacturing facility.

How to tell if a NAFDAC number is fake

1. Find the NAFDAC registration number on the label. Write down the product name, strength, dosage form and manufacturer printed on the same pack.
2. Look up the number in the NAFDAC Greenbook, NAFDAC's database of registered products, or in the NAFDAC Greenbook app. You can search by product name, brand name or registration number.
3. For food, water and veterinary products, use Verify Products on the NAFDAC registration portal. Each option takes a NAFDAC number.
4. Compare every detail in the record with your pack: product name, strength, dosage form and manufacturer. A record for another product, or for another form of the same brand, means the number on your pack is not the right one.
5. If the number returns nothing, search the product name as well. NAFDAC has said some companies have been slow to submit their product information to the Greenbook.
6. Inspect the pack itself. NAFDAC alerts ask you to look at the physical condition of a product before you use it.

A real number on the pack only proves that NAFDAC issued that number to some product. Make sure the record matches the product in your hand.

The full steps for each tool are in how to verify a NAFDAC number online. Some companies also add their own anti-counterfeiting methods to each pack. You can verify a product protected with Batach with your phone at batach.io/scan.

Other signs NAFDAC alerts point to

• Company details that do not match official records. The falsified Betaclox pack gave its importer's address as No. 128 MCC Road, Calabar. The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria register lists that company at No. 101 MCC Road.
• Two different brands sharing one batch number and one NAFDAC number. Both counterfeit proguanil brands in Alert No. 023/2026 listed batch BN600 and NRN 04-6433.
• A batch number, manufacturing date or expiry date that matches a NAFDAC alert. Alerts list these details for each falsified batch. Read more in batch numbers and expiry dates.

NAFDAC advises getting all medical products from authorised or licensed suppliers. The Ciprofit case shows that a licensed shop is not a full guarantee. The number still needs to match the record. For more signs on medicines, read how to identify fake drugs.

What to do if the number is fake

Do not use the product. Keep the pack and your receipt. NAFDAC alerts list these ways to report a suspected substandard or falsified product:

• Call NAFDAC on 0800-162-3322.
• Email sf.alert@nafdac.gov.ng.
• Visit the nearest NAFDAC office.
• Report online through NAFDAC's substandard and falsified medicines form.

If you already used the product and had a side effect, NAFDAC asks you to report it through the Med-safety app on Android or iOS, or by email to pharmacovigilance@nafdac.gov.ng. See how to report fake products in Nigeria for more on reporting.