Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu
Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu

Some medical workers in Ondo State have lamented the non-payment of their salaries by the state government since they were employed into the state’s civil service.

The affected medical workers, who are 26 in number, were employed by the Ondo State Government on June 26, 2019 through the state’s Hospitals Management Board.

The employment letters of the health personnel were signed by the HMB Permanent Secretary, Ikuomola Adeniran.

They were posted to different hospitals across the 18 local government areas of the state where they had served ever since.

Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu


The health workers affected by the situation include paediatricians, nurses, pharmacists, medical laboratory scientists, medical record technicians, dental technologists among others.

Some of the medical officers, who spoke with SaharaReporters, confirmed that since they had been issued employment letters, the office of the state’s Head of Service had refused to enrol them for salary payment.

“When they employed us, we were due for enrollment by the former Head of Service, Toyin Akinkuotu, but he could not confirm our e-payment pass due to the expiration of his tenure because he was preparing for retirement from service.

“After his retirement, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu announced the appointment of a new HOS in the person of Mr Dare Aragbaye and we expected him to do the needful by starting the process of our payment but to our surprise he refused despite all entreaties to him,” one of the affected workers said.

The health personnel explained that they had written several letters to the government to ensure that they were put on the payroll without any luck.

They revealed that while they were yet to be paid any salary since they started working for the state government, a female medical lab scientist among them was being paid every month due to the influence of the Head of Service and closeness to those in power.

“We have been enduring this situation for a long time, you know what it means not getting paid at all for a job you do every day.

“All of us were posted to government hospitals in remote areas and we have not earned any penny despite being issued employment letters.

“Only one of us was being paid with the help of the Head of Service. We view this as an act of injustice. We are already tired and no one is ready to listen to our plight.

“We have families too. We can’t be attending to sick patients in hospitals and not getting paid for our job since last year June,” another of the aggrieved workers said.

Permanent Secretary of the Hospital Management Board could not be reached for comments when our correspondent put a call across to his mobile number.

LABOR/WORKERS' RIGHTS

PUBLIC HEALTH

News

AddThis

Original Author

SaharaReporters, New York

Disable advertisements

By Peace