The Federal Government says the 21-day ultimatum given by the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA is in direct collision with the Memorandum of Understanding, MOU signed on August 21, 2021.
A statement by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Charles Akpan says the Federal Government is religiously implementing its own side of the agreement, with effective monitoring by the office of the Minister of Labour and Employment adding that NMA is yet to move a needle on the roles assigned to it in the agreement.
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The statement says the NMA communique in Benin City which issued the 21-day ultimatum is at variance with the timeline in articles 2, 7 and 10 of the Memorandum of Action.
It added that article 2 on payment of the outstanding hazard allowance from the 2020 Medical Residency Training Fund states that the Fund will be paid after verification and reconciliation of figures from the Budget Office of the Federation and up till this moment, both the National Association of Resident Doctors and the Postgraduate Medical College are yet to submit the validated application for the eligible doctors missed out in 2020 to enable payment.
The Federal Government says further that article 7 on withdrawal of the circular from the Office of the Head of Service removing House and NYSC Doctors from the scheme of service says “The NMA should submit her position immediately to the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health for onward transmission to the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation with a view to processing and issuance of clarification circular within two months”, but the NMA is yet to comply with this provision.
The Federal Government says similarly, the Technical Committee set up in article 7 to tackle the backlog of arrears on GISMIS was given 4 weeks effective Monday, August 30, 2021 to round off its assignments arguing if it is not on collision with the 21-day ultimatum.
Furthermore, the Nigerian Government says article 10 of the MOA also states that the Nigerian Medical Association should facilitate the withdrawal of suits by MEDSABAM against National Salaries Income and Wages Commission and the Accountant-General of the Federation to ensure the amicable resolution of the issues, noting that the NMA is yet to do this, yet it is issuing a fresh ultimatum.
The statement from says it is therefore clear that the 21-day ultimatum will neither assist the NMA discharge the role assigned to it in the MOA nor facilitate the faithful implementation of the timeline which the Federal Government has given every attention.
The Federal Government advises the NMA to play its role as the guardian of its affiliate associations instead of descending into the arena for needless fear of impeachment adding It has by the communique issued in Benin City, abdicated the main role assigned to it in the August 21 MOA.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
