Moji Adeyeye, the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), says Nigeria will start manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines once it gets approval from WHO.

She disclosed that the UN health agency was screening NAFDAC for a permit to produce COVID-19 vaccines in Nigeria.

Ms Adeyeye spoke at stakeholders interactive session organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Safety Standards and Regulations in Abuja.

The NAFDAC boss said, “The WHO is carrying out an audit of NAFDAC, which will enable the country to start manufacturing vaccines. The programme started on Monday and will last till Friday.”

At the session, the Ministry of Labour and Employment urged lawmakers to speed up action on the Operational Safety and Health Bill.

The Director, Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Lauretta Adogu, promised to ensure proper regulation of safety in workplaces.

“The bill will seek to make comprehensive provision for operational health and safety in work and other matters.

“It also seeks to establish a National Council for Occupational Safety and Health and will address several important issues and widens the scope of legislation as the new act will apply to all workplaces because we enforce operational safety and health in Nigeria,” she said.

Also, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said most accidents in gas and filling stations occur in unlicensed facilities.

The Head, Safety and Environment of the DPR, Adeniyi Balogun, said it was a big challenge, calling law enforcement agencies to collaborate with the department.

“What we have observed is that most of those accidents happened in stations that are not licensed by DPR. That is a big challenge for us; when we license a company, we make sure that a rigorous process is done to make sure you are qualified to do that operation,” he said.