The Chairman of the House Committee on Healthcare Services, Tanko Sununu has accused a substantial number of resident doctors serving in federal institutions of earning multiple salaries.
Sununu stated this while briefing reporters in Abuja on Thursday, April 8, 2021, about the Nigeria Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) ongoing strike.
He noted that there were several names of doctors appearing in various hospitals in the list of names sent to the Budget Office.
“An account receives wage payment more than once a month, which I was called by the Budget Office that if I will sign an undertaking, then their wages will be paid,” he said.
He, on the other hand, stated that he insisted on a no response, adding that the right thing had to be done and that the list had been worked out to correct the anomaly.
He stated that those who had earned multiple payments, as well as the hospitals affected, had been sorted and forwarded to the commission.
He stated that the committee must present it to the House for action and that the best thing must be done to end the ongoing NARD strike.
He urged the protesting doctors not to tamper with justice, emphasizing that Nigerians acknowledged their demands were real, but that there were procedures in place to meet those demands.
“On behalf of the speaker, the National Assembly, we stand to ensure that everybody is treated appropriately, but we must still observe due process,” he added.
He said that the allegation that the Minister of Labour and Productivity was unable to communicate with the Doctors was due to a coordination breakdown.
“I assume that NARD not meeting the minister is due to a contact gap the minister called me to inform me on development; this might not be the exact request of NARD, but the minister is doing a lot,” he explained.
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He stated that an agreement had been signed and was in the process of execution, but that the process had become sluggish and that NARD could no longer understand it.
He further stated that the National Assembly must ensure that the best things were done, but that due process would be followed.
Recall that NARD went on an indefinite strike on April 1, 2021, due to the government’s refusal to fulfil its demands.
However, in a swift response, Dr Dotun Osikoya, NARD’s Publicity and Social Secretary stated that the statement was false.
He stated that the organization was not aware of this and that those responsible should be found and disciplined accordingly.
