Strike: Why We Can’t Meet Workers’ Demand, Says NAFDAC DG

•Union warns of port congestion, risk to lives

Onyebuchi Ezigbo and Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The management of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has given reasons for its inability to meet demands of striking workers of the agency.

This comes as striking workers warned that the ongoing industrial action now in its second week could put public health at risk in the form of substandard products and cause congestion at the ports.

 The staff had declared an indefinite strike starting from Monday, to protest management’s failure to uphold an agreement signed in 2022, which addressed the workers’ welfare and promotion issues.

Top on the workers’ grievances was the agency’s failure to promote a significant number of staff members who participated in the 2024 promotion interviews

But NAFDAC said most of the demands of the workers are not within its powers to grant.

In a statement signed by NAFDAC’s Resident Media Consultant Sayo Akintola, the Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said as far as the issue of promotion or estacode were concerned, the agency has been following the rules and was committed to promoting the workers’ welfare.

For instance, Adeyeye said issues relating to the promotion of staff fall within the purview of the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation (HOS) which conducts promotion examination.

“More so, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said the reasons advanced by the striking workers against the agency are not true, adding that, whether it is a matter of promotion or estacode, the agency has been following the rules and is committed to promoting the workers’ welfare,” she explained.

She said: “We are not in charge of the number of people to promote, we are only responsible for conducting exams.

“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 that they approve as vacancy every year. It is not different from any other agency.”

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

“That is just playing to the gallery. Our staff have always been paid their due estacode and so, that is not an issue.

“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,” the DG added.

Meanwhile, the striking workers have highlighted risks in the form of substandard products and congestion at the ports due to the industrial action.

These dire consequences were revealed yesterday to THISDAY exclusively, by one of the union leaders.

He claimed that the strike, which was engendered by management’s refusal to address pressing welfare issues, has been met with indifference from the Director-General, who he alleged had jetted out of the country for the second time since the industrial action began.

The core issues in the disputes centred on the workers’ demand for approvals for allowances, review of job-specific allowances, promotion of staff who passed the 2024 examination and payment of outstanding claims dating back to 20114.

Workers also alleged they were forced to use personal resources for official trips, only to face protracted reimbursement delays, adding that this stark reality underscored the management’s self-serving attitude, prioritising personal interests over public health and safety.

“The implications of this strike are far-reaching. Without NAFDAC’s regulatory oversight, harmful products may infiltrate the market, posing serious health risks to consumers. The strike will cripple clearance processes at the ports, causing backlog and delays, with devastating consequences for the economy.

“In addition national health security will be compromised as the absence of effective regulation will undermine Nigeria’s ability to safeguard public health,” the union leader who pleaded to remain anonymous warned.