Director-General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, yesterday, explained that she had moved the agency from insolvency to solvency by paying off its N3.01 billion debt she inherited on assumption of office within one year.

Speaking in Abuja, during a virtual NAFDAC Staff Recognition Award event and DG’s Annual Message, Mrs Adeyeye, who said there when insanity, when who, took over as head of the agency, explained that his administration specifically inherited the sum of N2.3 billion.

Recalling the challenges she faced on taking over as head of NAFDAC, she said: “I inherited N2.3 billion. There was insanity, we started working on to bring sanity into the system.”

According to her, “NAFDAC is now solvent”, adding: “We have moved NAFDAC from insolvency to solvency by paying in debt N3.01bn in one year.”

Speaking on some far-reaching innovations put in place by her leadership with a view to repositioning NAFDAC for efficiency, she said the agency created directorate focus budgeting because according to her,”part of Quality Management System (QMS) is to have financial sanity. ”

She said: “In compliance with 2017 Executive Order aimed at enhancing the ease of doing business in Nigeria and in alignment with global benchmarking and the Quality Management System requirements, the agency has digitalised its regulatory process including registration processes to allow its clients to register online”.

According to her, “It is a marathon but the openness to change and being proactive and all these pieces are very important in moving forward”.

“In addition, the agency has decentralized the registration of regulated products with the minimal risk associated with them and manufactured by Small and medium-sized Enterprises, MSMEs,” she added.

She explained that” since the return of NAFDAC to the port in May of 2018, the agency has developed and deployed the ports inspection and data capture and risk management system (PITCAMS), a web-based online application that provides electronic endorsement and inspection reporting in real-time.

Speaking further, she said: “Another achievement is due to our hardworking and abled body staffs, it is the establishment of World Health Organisation? (WHO) global benchmarking and Adoption of international best practices”.

“Our goal and impact is that we want to get to maturity level 3 so that Nigeria can manufacture our own vaccine and we are all working on this day by day and I want to thank all the staffs are responsible for this in one way or the other. I’ve mentioned that we acquired our ISO 9001 in June 2019. It is all of us that took part in this. We are still improving on it”.

“We just finished the second year audit a few months ago and we came out with flying colours but we are not there yet. we will keep improving in other to safeguard the health of our people in Nigeria”.

“I was at Federal Executive Council (FEC) two days ago and they’ve approved 25 vehicles for us, those are vehicles that we bought from the money we saved and it is due to hardworking staffs, prudent, diligent, that led to all the savings that we are now going to be used to buy 25 vehicles and we are going to buy more. That is part of our new normal”.

TodayNG