The Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, on Monday, said the agency was considering recruiting staff to fill up vacant positions in 2020.
Adeyeye told the Newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja that the recruitment became necessary because the agency was too understaffed to effectively perform its statutory duties.
She said that the agency hoped and prayed that it would get employees in 2020 to drive its mandate of safeguarding the health of Nigerians.
“We need staff, we also need vehicles, and not too long ago, we got approval for 15 vehicles; but that is a drop in the bucket because we have 36 states.
“For instance, we cannot say we are giving one vehicle to Abia State.
“What will one vehicle do when you are pursuing people that want to kill Nigerians with bad medicine; so we are praying, hoping and planning to buy more in 2020,” She said.
The NAFDAC boss explained that some of the vehicles purchased were from the Agency’s savings, adding that the agency was fiscally responsible, and was saving money to buy what it needed to curtail wasteful spending.
Adeyeye said, “That is what budgeting means, denying yourself a little comfort so that you will be able to buy the essentials, and that is what we are doing and the Federal Government has given the approval.
“Apart from members of staff and vehicles, we need equipment. You do not use litmus paper to test drugs or food.
“No! We need sophisticated equipment and one particular equipment is about N200 million, just one piece of equipment.”