Adeyeye: I inherited N3.2bn debt at NAFDAC when I took over

Mojisola Adeyeye, the director-general (DG) of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), says she inherited a debt of N3.2 billion when she took over the agency’s affairs.

Adeyeye spoke on Friday during an interview on Channels Television’s programme, Inside Sources, anchored by Laolu Akande.

In 2017, Adeyeye took over as the DG of NAFDAC from Ademola Magbojuri, who was acting as the head of the agency.

Magbojuri replaced Yetunde Oni, who served in an acting capacity for 18 months after the sack of Paul Orhii, the then substantive NAFDAC DG.

Orhii was removed after allegations of financial misappropriation were levelled against him while at the helms of affairs of the agency.

“When I got to NAFDAC, I met N3.2 billion debt and N500 million missing, and there was no account for it before I came,” Adeyeye said.

“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 $2,000. So multiply $2,000 by N500 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 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.”

Adeyeye said she reduced the high expenses by some officials of the agency, including resorting to the use of Zoom for meetings, to cut travel expenses.

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

“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.”