.…Bureaucracy, Japa syndrome has affected our operations
…we are understaffed, NAFDAC DG cries for help
By Lubem Gena, Abuja
The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has demanded the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to furnish it with all relevant documents, approvals and justification of spendings of the N4billion allocated to it as a Covid-19 intervention fund.
This demand was handed down when the committee grilled the Director General of the Agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye who shockingly informed the committee that most of the projects meant to be executed were delayed up to the time of her appearance.
She however stated that part of the funds meant to be used to construct vaccine laboratory and animal house in Oshodi which is now at 81% completion just as another portion of it amounting to N250millon and N41million was deployed to the construction of toxicology and microbiology laboratories are to be expended.
The DG also informed the house that training on global benchmarking, e-library and port inspection warehouse software (for tracking and tracing shipments of goods coming into Nigeria) gulped N50million; N65million and N25million respectively.
Not feeling comfortable with the explanations, discussions on the structures and the time for the execution of the project, discrepancies in figures, the committee resolved that further submissions should be made to the committee for further action.
“Madam DG and DFA, please note that, we need copies of the appropriation where these things are covered. Because when you are making payments, one of the standard practices is that you will also make a reference to the head from which you are paying.
“Since these expenditures are not captured under your regular appropriation, they are COVID fund. You bought a N30milion Hilux from it, we need the evidence that that was the purpose for which the appropriation was meant. That is very very important to us. So, all these expenditures, you need to supply us with the evidence that the monies you received were meant to take care of those heads of expenditures. Very, very important”, the chairman concluded.
Meanwhile, another N320million request was made by the agency to enable it recruit more staff to reinforce the workforce that have been badly depleted due to ‘japa syndrome’ and retirements is yet to be dispensed.
“Our staff strength is lower than what I met on the ground because of retirement and the japa syndrome”, Prof. Adeyeye added.
