President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday appointed Dr. Ifedayo Morayo Adetifa as the new Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Buhari’s Special Assistant on Media & Publicity, Garba Shehu confirmed the appointment in a statement on Monday.
Shehu said Adetifa will take over from Chikwe Ihekweazu, who has been given an appointment at the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The new NCDC DG is a member of a health sector reform committee set up by the president on Monday.
Adetifa bagged his first degree from the University of Ilorin, Kwara State.
He completed his residency training in Paediatrics at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, and studied for the MSc in Epidemiology at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
He also obtained his Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the school.
Ihekweazu had been NCDC DG since 2016 when Buhari appointed him, but last week, WHO appointed him as an assistant Director-General.
In an official letter addressed to Ihekweazu, WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, said the Nigerian is the deputy in charge of health emergency intelligence at the global health organisation.
He is to assume office on November 1, 2021, and will be in charge of WHO’s pandemic and epidemic response hub in Berlin, Germany.
