August 9, 2024

The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Mojisola Adeyeye has disclosed how she inherited a debt of N3.2bn, while N500m was unaccounted for upon her assumption into office.

She made the revelation on Channels Television’s Inside Sources programme Friday.

According to Adeyeye, such debt and missing funds were enough to declare the agency bankrupt if it had happened in a developed country such as the United States.

She said, “When I got to NAFDAC, I met N3.2b Debt, and N500m missing and there was no account for it before I came.

“I asked them if they had capital projects they used the money for. Bear in mind that at that time, N1 million was equivalent to $2000. So multiply $2000 by N500m. I was coming from the US where money was hard to get. You worked hard for your money. I could have given up but I saw an opportunity and I seized it.

“It was tough because if that had happened in the US, NAFDAC would have been declared bankrupt, and a financial house would have taken over the management of our finances. But I didn’t have money to hire a financial house.

“My point is that we have enough endowment in this country to make things better, and I am using NAFDAC as an example.

“I said I was going to cut to the bone. I am going to be using technology to ensure that our system moves on.

“We started Zoom meetings in 2018. Many people didn’t like because it they were used to getting travel allowances and DTAs. But we had to save.”