NARD Calls Out Ikpeazu Over Unpaid Salaries, Applauds Sanwo-Olu

NARD Calls Out Ikpeazu Over Unpaid Salaries, Applauds Sanwo-Olu

The National Association of Resident Doctors has called out Governor Okezie Ikpeazu over unpaid salaries.

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This was disclosed in a communique released at the National Executive Council in Abuja.

NARD also applauded the Governor Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state among other State Governors.

The association said the Abia State Government-led by Ikpeazu owes its members 23-month salary arrears.

It appealed to the Government to pay their salaries. It also called on patriotic Nigerians to appeal to the Governor as well.

Other defaulting states include: Imo, Ondo and Ekiti States each owe their states 10, six and three months respectively.

The Communique also stated:

• That its members at the Delta State University Teaching Hospital were not paid by the State Government.
• Similarly, the Gombe state government failed to pay its members their September and October salaries.

All these occurred during the long strike by the resident doctors which was called off in 2021.

NEC raised concerns about the lack of response of most state governments in adhering to the 2017 Training Act. It also applauded Delta, Lagos and Benue for adopting the law.

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It said:

NEC “Observed with serious concerns the poor response of most state governments in domesticating the Medical Residency Training Act of 2017. While commending states like Delta, Lagos, and Benue which have adopted the law and also commenced the payment of the Medical Residency Training Fund to our members in those states.

“The NEC noted that the House of Representatives is planning a bill prohibiting health workers from going on strike to demand their rights.

“We maintain that the right to strike is a universal democratic right of all employees, regardless of where they are employed: private or public sector.

“Hence, this move is against the rights of a worker to express their grievances with peaceful negotiation and as a last resort, embarking on industrial action.

“The NEC noted the profligate use of power by the Chief Medical Director of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.

Also, his deliberate refusal to abide by the provisions of the 2017 Medical Residency Training Act in the compilation and submission of the list of resident doctors eligible for the 2021 Medical Residency Training Fund is threatening industrial harmony at the institution.

“The NEC lamented the acute manpower shortage in most tertiary health institutions occasioned by the ongoing massive medical brain drain and the attendant burnout effects on our members.”

NARD urged the following stakeholders and patriotic Nigerians to intervene.

The Federal Government, the Nigerian Governor Forum among others were summoned to handle the situation.

They insisted that the Governors of Abia, Imo, Ondo and Ekiti states urgently pay the salary arrears. Also, they demanded the immediate payment of allowances owed to its members in their tertiary health institutions.

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NARD also lamented on the incessant suffering of its members in Delta and Gombe states. It urged the Governors to release the unpaid salaries of its members.

It said:

“We urge the Federal Government to take steps towards curtailing medical brain drain.

“The Federal Government should look towards increasing the budgetary allocation of the health sector from the subsisting five per cent in the 2022 budget to a figure closer to 15 per cent as recommended at the 2001 Abuja declaration for health financing in Africa.

“This will enable more employment in the sector, improved welfare and service conditions for health workers, and also an upgrade of health facilities and equipment in our institutions across the country.”

Source: PUNCH HealthWise