A renowned medical doctor and public health practitioner, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate has given up the chance to become the next Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gavi global vaccine alliance.
The decision of the Harvard professor who has held several top health jobs both within and outside Nigeria to quit was confirmed in a statement on Monday by Gavi.
Pate who is a leader in the public health sector of medicine was due to assume the helm at Gavi on August 3, to take over from US medical epidemiologist Seth Berkley, who had been in charge since 2011.
However, OsunDailyNG reports Pate informed Gavi that he has to return home and contribute to Nigeria.
Gavi confirmed that Pate informed the organization “that he has taken an incredibly difficult decision to accept a request to return and contribute to his home country, Nigeria.”
With the development, Gavi’s Chief Operating Officer David Marlow will instead assume the position of Interim Chief Executive Officer while the search for a new CEO continues.
Meanwhile, while the statement did not give any further details about the decision, many Nigerians took to Twitter with speculations that President Bola Tinubu is set to name Pate as the Minister of Health.
Though there has been no official confirmation or statement from any quarters, Nigerians have been spreading the rumours on social media since the news of Pate’s resignation broke on Monday.
