Health workers in Ekiti and Kogi states are currently lamenting the inability of the state governments to pay the salary arrears owed them.
The situation, according to the workers, has made life difficult for them and their family members as they could barely feed themselves and pay their children’s tuition fees at school.
Investigations by our correspondent at the Federal Medical Centre in Ido-Ekiti and the Kogi State University Teaching Hospital, Ayingba, revealed that the staff, especially doctors, were being owed salary arrears of several months. It was also gathered that despite the non-payment of their salaries, some of the medical workers still render services to patients, hoping that the Federal Government would consider their plight.
But the consultants at the hospitals have continued with their indefinite strike action.
A worker at the Federal Medical Centre, Ido Ekiti, who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said that the non-payment of the staff salaries by the hospitals should rather be blamed on the fraudulent activities allegedly perpetrated by the management of the institutions.
He said, “The government has paid the money that was meant for the settlement of part of the salaries owed, but it was squandered by the previous administration of our hospital and the whole fraud is being covered up.
“Some allowances and entitlement have not been paid for more than three years. And we have been told several times that there is no money, but there is evidence that the money was released to the hospital but was never paid to staff and we have been suffering for years without regular salary and even when they pay, it is half salary.”
It was also gathered that the alleged fraudulent activities by the management of the hospital led to the exit of the former Chief Medical Director, Dr. Ayodele Majekodunmi.
Another worker at the FMC, Mrs Babalola Oluwaseun, told our correspondent, “This same fraud by the management was the key reason why the former MD was showed the way out. And upon the recent complaints and protests on this issue, the ministry of health of this state set up a panel to investigate the matter but the investigation produced no result as the case was latter buried.”
A similar scenario obtains at the Kogi State University Teaching Hospital, Ayingba, with the staff also lamenting the non-payment of their salaries.
