“We are not Owing Doctors”- FG

The Federal Government stated yesterday that unpaid resident doctors were only those who were fraudulently recruited by Chief Medical Directors, CMDs, without the appropriate approval.

Senator Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, stated this when he received the chairman of the Federal Character Commission, Dr Muheeba Dankaka, and other federal commissioners who paid him a courtesy visit in his office, that he is concerned about the disparity in payment of foreign doctors by some states, warning that such preferential treatment does not encourage national unity.

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“You people know the mandate for recruitment. The Federal Ministry involved will give approval. The office of the Head of Service of the Federation will give approval. Budget Office will give approval.

These three approvals come to you in Federal Character Commission for final approval and issuing of compliance letter.

But in the case of these resident doctors, their letters were issued without any of these approvals.

“The CMDs who did that said they thought they could pay them through Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, GFMIS, platform, an ad hoc platform used for sundry expenses. Personnel costs have been removed from GFMIS. That is the problem.

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”Every payment for personnel costs is done under Integrated Personal and Payroll Information System, IPPIS. But, now a waiver has been given. It will come to you in the FCC to give compliance certificate.

“We explained to them that it is not a one bus stop thing. It cannot be done in one day. They said no, we are going on strike. You go on strike to force government to regularize an irregularity. It is not done.”

“Ngige disclosed that the request for compliance letter would be sent to the FCC by the Federal Ministry of Health before the end of the week and urged the commission to give the request expeditious attention.

Concerning the preferential treatment of foreign doctors, Ngige stated that certain states in Nigeria employ foreign doctors and pay them five times more than their Nigerian counterparts.

He tasked the FCC with using its constitutional mission to promote national unity and loyalty rather than focusing solely on the public sector, particularly in employment recruitment.

He also urged the panel to ensure that the country’s amenities, infrastructure, and social services are distributed fairly.

The minister said: “The constitution did not say that you do only cases in the public sector. There are areas we need you to look into especially where the constitution is silent.

“We have cases where doctors are employed from Egypt, Cuba and Pakistan and they are paid five times what the Nigerian doctor will get if you convert the foreign exchange they use to pay them.

“But in this country, I was here when some of my teachers left from South East to go and teach in the North East at a time. They left because we had enough down there to export to our brothers.

They were paid with our local currency and given some other incentives, which at the end of the day make the economy of those states to be alright.

“Whether you like it or not, if some people are poor in Nigeria in the poverty index rating, when the Nigerian poverty index is being taken, it will be an aggregate, including those places. If it is health, when the health parameters are being taken, it is for the whole. So, FCC can go into that area.”