Tinubu appoints Idris, DG, NCDC

…approves changes in health sector

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Olajide Idris as the director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Tinubu also approved some changes in the health sector, with the appointment and reappointment of some board chairpersons and chief executive officers under the federal ministry of health and social welfare:

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Ajuri Ngelale, the presidential spokesman, in a statement on Thursday, said these were part of the efforts to bolster the resiliency of Nigeria’s public health surveillance and security architecture.

President Tinubu also approved the appointment of a new chief executive officer for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to assume office on February 19, 2024:

Ngelale said the president has painstakingly considered the wealth of experience of each qualified and aforementioned Nigerian, who will be tasked with driving his Renewed Hope Agenda in the sector.

According to the statement, the new NCDC director-general/CEO, received his MBBS degree from the University of Lagos College of Medicine, after which he obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from the Ivy League’s Yale University in Connecticut, United States of America. He would go on to serve as the commissioner for health in Lagos State from 2007 to 2019, after serving as the permanent secretary in the Lagos State ministry of health from 1999 to 2007.

Xubairu, the new NBSC chairperson, on the other hand, has served as the medical director of Mayo Clinic in the United States of America, following a long career in which he served as a resident doctor at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) Hospital as a post-doctoral fellow, and undertook a clinical fellowship at the Harvard Medical School’s Transfusion Medicine Programme during which he obtained a Master’s degree in clinical science at the same institution.

The president also appointed Mansur Kabir as chairman of the board of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), while Moji Adeyeye retained her position as the director-general.

He also approved the appointment of Abba Zubairu as chairman of the board of the National Blood Service Commission (NBSC) and Saleh Yuguda as the chief executive officer

Similarly, Afolabi Lesi was named the board chairman of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), while Fatima Kyari, was appointed as the chief executive officer.

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Other appointments include Wasilat Giwa as the chairman of the board of the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), while Ibrahim Ahmed was appointed the CEO.

The Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) has Babajide Salako as chairman, and Tosan Erhabor, as CEO.

Tinubu similarly appointed Adamu Bakari as the chief medical director/CEO of the Moddibo Adama University Teaching Hospital, Yola (MAUT), while Reuben Eitediyi, was named the chief medical director of the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua (ISTH), among other appointments.

The statement said the actions were part of the president’s determination to bring world-class standards to Nigerian public health administration and demonstration of his commitment to deliver quality care to Nigerians.