Unpaid salaries: Doctors back SERAP’s suit against 11 govs

The National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners has expressed support for the suit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project before the International Criminal Court against some states government owing workers salaries.
The association, an affiliate of the Nigerian Medical Association, said it would be willing to supply intrinsic information as it affected doctors and the nation’s health sector.
The National President of the association, Dr. Nurud-Din Akindele, said this at a press conference on Monday at the NMA state secretariat, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

He described the action of the 11 state governors, owing workers between two and eight months’ salaries as criminal, callous and sheer wickedness.
The affected states are Anambra, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Enugu, Kogi, Nasarawa, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau and Rivers.
He noted that most states were not paying doctors the true value of their salaries as stipulated by the National Income Salaries and Wages Commission.
Akindele appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on states owing workers, particularly doctors, to pay up in the interest of peace.
“We openly declare our support for SERAP and will partner them in their bid to take all states owing salaries to the International Criminal Court and we will be willing to supply intrinsic information regarding the situation as it affects doctors and the health sector,” he added.
 Akindele explained that the failure of the defaulting governors to pay the outstanding salaries of his members would force them to embark on strike after the expiration of the 21-day ultimatum, which started on Monday.
He stated, “I am constrained to inform the federal and state governments that NAGGMDP will take this press conference as a notice to all governments defaulting in payment of salaries and allowances to doctors as a 21-day notification, at the end of which we cannot guarantee continuity in rendering services by all our doctors being owed salaries and allowances by any state in the federation.”
Akindele decried the parlous state of the nation’s health sector, arguing that government had concentrated more effort on tertiary health institutions than primary and secondary health care sub sectors.