Outsourced staff of the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, on Thursday protested against 30-month salaries arrears the federal government is owing some workers of the organisation.
The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of UCH, Prof. Temitope Alonge, confirmed that the Federal Government was owing the said amount, saying it’s not only the UCH.
He said the UCH, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital and the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital (LUTH) were included.
A group, Concerned Citizens for Human Rights (CCHR) had raised the alarm that the UCH management was owing the affected workers 30-month salary arrears.
In a three-page petition written to the Minister for Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole by the Convener of CCHR, Comrade Mojeed Olalere – a copy of which was made available to journalists in Ibadan, they alleged the unhealthy treatment being meted out to the outsourced UCH personnel when “Lagos University Teaching Hospital and its Kwara state counterpart in South West didn’t owe their contractors in this category.”
The human rights activist in the letter titled: “Save the soul of UCH contractors and their workers from outstanding 30 months’ salary”, said the contractors who were verified and numbering 22, were regretting ever accepting to work for the hospital because of the experience of the last 30months.
“Some workers of the contractors in UCH came to our office and complained that they are living in abject poverty due to inability of the hospital to pay their salaries of 30 months.
“Some of them had already passed away due to sickness when there was no money for treatment. About seven weeks ago, one of the security guards was macheted to death by some armed robbers that invaded UCH, and nothing was done for his family up till now,” he alleged.
While reacting to the protest, the UCH boss said the federal government had promised to pay them and a letter to that effect has been sent.
Prof. Alonge recalled that “in 2007, the federal government outsourced services to the affected individuals and it agreed to undertake their payment.
“The coordinators of the affected people have been asked to leave their account details. As at last meeting in Abuja, we learnt the total money owed the concerned staffers in Ibadan and other teaching hospitals including Lagos are over N15billion and the government was ready to pay one third of it. The government wants to release them in quantum,” Prof. Alonge disclosed.
He added that, “before the advent of Treasury Single Account (TSA), we didn’t encounter this kind of problem. Anyway, everybody that has been listed will get their pay. They were outsourced and government was supposed to pay them and it was ready to do so.”
