The Lagos State Government has said it did not issue any directive to reduce the monthly payment of National Youths Service Corps, NYSC, doctors from N75,000 to N15,000, effective July 2021, saying “it is false and misleading.”
Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Mrs Ajibola Ponnle, made the rebuttal on Sunday.
According to Ponnle, “Lagos State Government has noted the decision of the National Association of Residents Doctors (NARD) to call out doctors on a strike from Monday, 2nd August 2, 2021.
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“The decision followed the directive of its National Executive Committee meeting held in Umuahia on 30th July 2021.
“The communique cited, among other grievances, a purported directive from the Lagos State Government, through the Ministry of Special Duties, to reduce the monthly payment of NYSC Doctors from N75,000 to N15,000, effective July 2021. This claim is false and misleading.”
Ponnle explained that the resolutions reached at the 42 National Council on Establishments (NCE) Meeting held in Lagos on Monday, November 30 – Friday, December 4, 2020, necessitated the issuance of a circular by the Head of Service of Lagos State, Mr Hakeem Muri-Okunola, to communicate the decision taken at the Federal level to public servants in Lagos.
“Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu remains committed to the welfare of Lagos State Government employees, particularly the health workers who have shown commitment, bravery and resilience in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic,” she stated.
Ponnle added that the state government, through the Ministry of Establishments, Training and Pensions, would hold a stakeholders’ consultative meeting in the coming week on the implications of the decision taken by the National Council of Establishments on Internship, Housemanship and NYSC Doctors in the Civil/Public Service, which prompted the action.
“The decision of NARD is hasty. We, therefore, appeal for restraint by the Lagos Chapter of the Association of Resident Doctors and the Nigerian Medical Association. They should wait for the conclusion of these engagements,” the commissioner pleaded. [Vanguard]
