The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has called for stiffer penalties for the production and sale of counterfeit regulated products, including life imprisonment or the death penalty for offenders.

Adeyeye made the call during a press conference in Lagos, where she also disclosed that NAFDAC had cleared debts amounting to about N3.2 billion inherited when she assumed office in 2017.

According to her, the inherited liabilities included about N1.6 billion in unpaid taxes owed to the government, approximately N700 million owed to staff who travelled for Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) activities, and about N400 million owed to contractors.

"We had N3.2 billion debt that I inherited. N1.6 billion was taxes we didn't pay to the government. My predecessors didn't pay the government. About N700 million was to staff that travelled for GMP that they didn't pay and about N400 million for contractors that were not paid," she said.

Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn

Adeyeye said she took immediate steps to reduce the agency's expenditure, particularly on official travel, in order to free funds for settling the liabilities.

She disclosed that NAFDAC recorded about 700 official travels in 2017, a situation she said contributed significantly to the agency's expenses.

"I said, no more travel until we pay our debts. We paid N3.11 billion by November 2018. The other money was fictitious. We didn't pay that," she said.

The NAFDAC boss explained that her decision to prioritise debt repayment was based on her personal conviction that the agency should not remain indebted.

"People asked me, why are you paying debts? We don't pay debts here. I was brought up not to owe, not to be a slave to the lender," she added.