Barely few days after the Medical and Health Workers Union suspended its nine-day indefinite strike, the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, has resolved to give the Federal Government a 21-day ultimatum to meet its demands or see the health sector crumble.
This notice was given at the weekend at the end of body’s 2013 National Executive Council, NEC, meeting held in Sokoto State.
In a communique issued by NMA, jointly signed by its President and Secretary-General of the association, Osahon Enabulele and Akpufuoma Pemu, respectively, the body noted that it is demanding for the enthronement of professionalism and international best practices, which are not negotiable.
The doctors lamented that they have been owed salaries since the introduction of the centralised Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System, IPPIS, in federal public hospitals.
NMA therefore urged the FG to scrap the system or find a solution to the problems caused by IPPIS within 21 days or have its members embark on an industrial action.
“NEC resolved not to further tolerate the dislocation and unqualified suffering of doctors and other health workers, who are being owed salaries due to non-payment of wages occasioned by recurrent irregularities in the implementation of the centralised integrated personnel payroll information system, IPPIS,” the communique said.
It lamented further that, “since the commencement of the implementation of IPPIS in federal public hospitals, it has greatly undermined the welfare of doctors many of whom have had to endure over three months of non-payment of salaries due to the irregularities in the implementation of IPPIS.
“NEC, therefore, calls on government to urgently correct the numerous deficiencies within the next 21 days or stop the use of IPPIS as a means of payment of the salaries of doctors in public hospitals, pending when the irregularities in the IPPIS are sorted out with a perfect innocuous system put in place.”
The 21-day notice starts from Monday (today).
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