Tinubu re-appoints NAFDAC DG, names Dr. Jide Idris as new NCDC boss

President Bola Tinubu has reappointed  Prof. Moji Adeyeye as the  Chief Executive Officer of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC). He also appointed Dr. Mansur Kabir as the new Board Chairman for the agency.

A statement issued by Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale on Thursday said the president also appointed Board chairpersons and Chief Executive Officers (ceoS) for eight agencies under the `Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare:

They  include former  Lagos Commissioner for Health Dr. Olajide Idris who was appointed as the new Director-General for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to replace current DG, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa.  

Also appointed are Prof. Abba Zubairu and Dr. Saleh Yuguda as board chairperson and CEO, respectively for the National Blood Service Commission; Prof. Afolabi Lesi and Dr. Fatima Kyari as board chairperson and CEO, respectively for the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria; Wasilat Giwa and Ibrahim Ahmed as board chairperson and CEO, respectively for the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria and Dr. Babajide Salako and Dr. Tosan Erhabor as Board Chairperson and CEO, respectively, of the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria.

The President also approved the appointment of Prof. Adamu Bakari as Chief Medical Director of Moddibo Adama University Teaching Hospital, Yola, Adamawa State, and Prof. Reuben Eifediyi as CMD of the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State.

The appointments are “in furtherance of his determination to bring world-class standards to Nigerian public health administration and to manifest his commitment to deliver affordable and quality care to all Nigerians under governance and regulatory frameworks commensurate with international best practice,” said Ngelale.

New NCDC Chief, Idris, received his MBBS degree from the University of Lagos’ College of Medicine, after which he obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health from the Ivy League’s Yale University in Connecticut, United States of America.

He served as the Commissioner for Health in Lagos State from 2007 to 2019, after serving as the Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Ministry of Health from 1999 to 2007.

The New NBSC Chairperson, Prof. Abba Zubairu, has served as the Medical Director of the Mayo Clinic in the United States of America, following a long career in which he served as a Resident Doctor at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital as a Post-Doctoral Fellow.

He undertook a Clinical Fellowship at the Harvard Medical School’s Transfusion Medicine Programme during which he obtained a Master’s degree in Clinical Science at the same institution.

The New MDCN CEO, Kyari, is an ophthalmologist and Fellow of the Nigeria Academy of Medicine who obtained an MBBS degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, after which she obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of London’s School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She also obtained a Doctorate in Public Health from the same institution.

Ngelale noted that the President expects the new leadership to “substantially raise the standards of healthcare service delivery for the exclusive benefit of all strata of the Nigerian population.”

Owing to the high cost of historical underperformance in the health sector, the President anticipates “the immediate and effective implementation of new policy frameworks to reposition the sector under the able leadership of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Muhammad Pate,” the statement read.