Tinubu reappoints Adeyeye as DG NAFDAC, appoints new NCDC boss, heads for PCN, others

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment and reappointment of the Board Chairpersons and Chief Executive Officers of agencies under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

A press statement issued by Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, said this was in furtherance of Tunubu’s 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.

The appointees include Dr. Mansur Kabir as Board Chairperson of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), while Prof. Moji Adeyeye is reappointed as Chief Executive Officer.

Prof. Abba Zubairu as Board Chairperson of the National Blood Service Commission (NBSC), while Dr. Saleh Yuguda is appointed as Chief Executive Officer.

Others are Prof. Afolabi Lesi as the Board Chairperson of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), while the Chief Executive Officer is Dr. Fatima Kyari.

Pharm. Wasilat Giwa is the Board Chairperson of the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), while the Chief Executive Officer is Pharm. Ibrahim Ahmed.

Dr. Babajide Salako is the Board Chairperson, Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN), while the Chief Executive Officer is Dr. Tosan Erhabor.

Also, Prof. Adamu G. Bakari is appointed Chief Medical Director/CEO of Moddibo Adama University Teaching Hospital, Yola (MAUTH), while Prof. Reuben Eifediyi is appointed Chief Medical Director/CEO of Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua (ISTH), Edo State.

Meanwhile, as part of efforts to bolster the resiliency of Nigeria’s public health surveillance and security architecture, President Bola Tinubu has also approved the appointment of Dr. Olajide Idris as Director-General/Chief Executive Officer for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). He is expected to assume office on February 19, 2024.

He said the new NCDC Director-General/CEO, received his MBBS degree from the University of Lagos’ College of Medicine, after which he obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from the Ivy League’s Yale University in Connecticut, United States of America.

He would go on to serve as the Commissioner of 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.

“New NBSC Chairperson, Prof. Abba Zubairu, PhD, has served as the Medical Director of the world-leading 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 (UPenn) Hospital as a Post-Doctoral Fellow, and 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.

“New MDCN CEO, Dr. Fatima Kyari, PhD, is a renowned ophthalmologist and Fellow of the Nigeria Academy of Medicine (FNAMed) who obtained an MBBS degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, after which she obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from the University of London’s School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine before she obtained a Doctorate degree in Public Health from the same institution.

“The President expects that the new leadership across this critical human development sector will substantially raise the standards of healthcare service delivery for the exclusive benefit of all strata of the Nigerian population as his administration is committed to implementing a whole-of-government approach to transforming the sector to enhance the aggregate national quality of life and productivity.

“Owing to the high cost of historical underperformance in the 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 Ali Pate,” he said.