The director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Mojisola Adeyeye, says she is not responsible for the limited vacancies in the agency.

The Adeyeye said this in a statement by the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Olusayo Akintola, on Monday in Abuja.

The agency’s workers begsn an indefinite strike on October 7, calling on the management to review the 2024 promotion exam for agency staff.

The strike was initiated by staff unions in the agency, like the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporation and Government-Owned Companies (SSACGOC) and the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN).

They had called for the strike on the allegation that the majority of the staff were not promoted as a result of the purported “vacancy slot” from the head of service, even when they all qualified to be promoted.

The unions had also claimed that some statutory arrears and other benefits were not paid to some of the staff employed by the agency in 2022.

Meanwhile, the director-general denied all the claims, saying that the agency has been following the rules on payment of arrears and estacode, and is committed to promoting the workers’ welfare.

According to her, the management is not in charge of the number of people to be promoted, we are only responsible to conduct exams.

She said that the office of the Head of Service of the Federation (HOS) is always responsible for allocating available vacancies that the government can pay for.

“It is not that there is vacancy and we are not promoting. It is what the government can pay for, and they approve it as a vacancy every year. It is not different from any other agency,” the NAFDAC chied said.

On the issue of estacode and arrears raised by the striking workers, the NAFDAC boss said there was nothing wrong with the agency’s estacode policy.

“We are not different from any other agency, the estacode will be paid when the evidence of the trip is presented. We have never owed any staff any travel allowance,” she said. 

(NAN)