The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Moji Adeyeye, has challenged any contractor who alleges that she demanded money from them to come forward and publicly substantiate the claim.
Adeyeye made the statement during a media engagement on Monday, where she discussed her experience leading the regulatory agency, the challenges she encountered on assumption of office and the reforms implemented during her tenure.
The NAFDAC boss maintained that she returned to Nigeria after decades in the United States to contribute to the development of the country and was motivated by public service rather than personal financial gain.
“Any contractor that I have demanded money from should come here and tell me! I came here for service. I retired happily. I was ashamed of my country! I came to remove some of the shame. And the world is seeing it! The world is seeing it!” she said.
Adeyeye recounts 34 years in US
Adeyeye said she spent 34 years in the United States, where she built a career in academia and worked as a professor for about three decades.
According to her, she had already achieved professional success and retired before deciding to return to Nigeria to serve.
“I lived in the US for 34 years. I was a professor for 30 years in an all-white school. I retired happily. I came here to serve, but some Nigerians have an aversion to service. It is for what can I get,” she said.
She criticised what she described as the culture of seeking personal benefits from public office, arguing that such attitudes undermine national development.
“We have rendered Nigeria useless because of ‘what can I get’! We have rendered Nigeria useless because of ‘what is in it for my pocket?’” Adeyeye said.
NAFDAC inherited N3.2bn debt, DG says
The NAFDAC director-general also provided details of the financial and operational difficulties she said she encountered when she assumed office.
Adeyeye said the agency had inherited liabilities amounting to about N3.2 billion and was operating below the expected regulatory maturity standards.
“When I got to NAFDAC, NAFDAC had a status of minus maturity level one out of four. We had N3.2 billion debt that I inherited,” she said.
According to her, the liabilities included approximately N1.6 billion in unpaid taxes, outstanding payments to staff who travelled for Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) activities and debts owed to contractors.
She explained that settling the inherited liabilities was part of efforts to stabilise the agency and restore confidence in its operations.
Adeyeye said NAFDAC paid about N3.1 billion by November 2018, while she described some other claims as fictitious and said the agency did not pay those amounts.
Poor laboratory, ICT infrastructure
Beyond its financial obligations, Adeyeye said NAFDAC also faced significant infrastructure challenges when she assumed office.
She disclosed that between 70 and 80 per cent of the agency’s laboratory equipment was not functioning at the time, potentially affecting its ability to effectively carry out regulatory and testing responsibilities.
The agency’s information and communication technology infrastructure was also described as inadequate.
Adeyeye recalled that as of 2017, NAFDAC had not purchased laptops for its directors, describing the ICT system as having been neglected.
“No single director had a laptop bought by NAFDAC as of 2017. The ICT was put in the deep freezer,” she said.
She said efforts were subsequently made to address the agency’s accumulated liabilities and operational deficiencies.
DG speaks on 2022 staff strike
Adeyeye also reflected on the difficulties NAFDAC experienced in 2022, particularly a prolonged industrial dispute.
According to her, staff members embarked on a strike that lasted from June to November 2022, a development she described as one of the most difficult periods of her first term.
“In 2022, that was the last year of my first term. It was a bad year. It was a horrible year because people instigated, even our staff, to go on strike from June of 2022 to November,” she said.
Adeyeye alleged that some individuals were working behind the scenes to undermine her administration because they wanted to become NAFDAC director-general.
“Because some people wanted to become DG of NAFDAC? They are instigating a lot, behind the scene,” she alleged.
NAFDAC reaches higher regulatory maturity
Despite the challenges she outlined, Adeyeye said the agency recorded significant improvements under her leadership.
She said NAFDAC progressed from a low regulatory maturity status to Level 3 by March 2022, making it, according to her, the third agency of its kind in Africa to attain the status at the time.
“By March 2022, we became a maturity level 3 Agency, the third in Africa,” she said.
She added that the progress improved the international perception of NAFDAC and strengthened the agency’s standing among regulatory institutions in other countries.
According to Adeyeye, the agency subsequently became an affiliate member of the International Medical Regulatory Forum in March 2023 and joined the International Council for Harmonisation in 2025.
She said the improvement in NAFDAC’s regulatory standing was preceded by efforts to rebuild the agency’s public and international image.
“In my first two years, I was going round doing image-making, rebuilding our bad image,” she said.
Adeyeye recalled that NAFDAC had previously faced negative perceptions but said the agency’s achievement of higher regulatory maturity had changed how it was viewed internationally.
Adeyeye urges Nigerians to embrace public service
The NAFDAC boss used the occasion to reiterate her call for greater commitment to public service, saying Nigeria’s development would be undermined if public office was primarily viewed as an avenue for personal enrichment.
She maintained that her decision to return to Nigeria after a lengthy career abroad was driven by a desire to contribute to the country’s development.
Her comments also came against the backdrop of her defence of her record at NAFDAC and her challenge to contractors who may have allegations concerning financial demands against her.
Adeyeye’s remarks placed emphasis on accountability, institutional reform, debt management, infrastructure development and the strengthening of Nigeria’s regulatory capacity in the health and pharmaceutical sector.