I Inherited ₦3.2bn Debt, ₦500m Unaccounted For When I Assumed Office, Says NAFDAC DG

The director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, has disclosed that she inherited a staggering debt of ₦3.2 billion and found ₦500 million unaccounted for upon assuming office at the regulatory agency.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Inside Sources monitored by our correspondent, Prof. Adeyeye highlighted the financial challenges she faced when she took over the leadership of NAFDAC. She noted that such a significant debt, coupled with the missing funds, could have led to the agency being declared bankrupt if it were operating in a developed country like the United States.

“When I got to NAFDAC, I met ₦3.2 billion in debt, and ₦500 million was missing with no account for it before I came,” she stated. “I asked them if they had used the money for capital projects. At that time, ₦1 million was equivalent to $2000. So, multiply $2000 by ₦500 million. 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 seized it.”

Adeyeye described the financial situation as dire, emphasising that in a country like the US, the agency would have faced severe financial scrutiny, possibly leading to external management. However, due to a lack of resources, she had to take a different approach.

“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.”

Despite the challenges, Adeyeye implemented cost-cutting measures and embraced technology to improve the agency’s efficiency. “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 it because they were used to getting travel allowances and DTAs. But we had to save.”

Addressing the current state of the nation and the ongoing #EndBadGovernance protests against hunger and hardship, Adeyeye lamented the deterioration of the country over the past six decades.

“The situation in our country is a reflection of six decades of decadence. I was young when we got our independence, and I knew the Nigeria that worked,” she said, drawing from her personal experiences and the sacrifices her family made for Nigeria’s democracy.

She recounted how her husband and other pro-democracy activists, including President Bola Tinubu, fought for the country’s democracy, often at great personal cost. “My husband, with the current president of this country, President Bola Tinubu, fought for independence. Some of them had broken homes. They were always going to beg others to help us and deliver us from military rule then.”

Reflecting on her return to Nigeria after 37 years abroad, Adeyeye expressed her disappointment at the state of the nation, particularly in the areas of values, healthcare, and the pharmaceutical industry.

“I came back to a country I couldn’t recognise anymore in terms of our values, the state of our pharmaceutical industry, the quality of medicines, and generally healthcare delivery. That’s why I said what is happening now is a result of six decades of decadence.”

Adeyeye concluded by calling for a collective effort to restore Nigeria’s values and transparency, warning that corruption has deeply infiltrated the fabric of society. “We cannot be blessed if we have corruption. Corruption has eaten into the fibre of society,” she said.