plans by the management to go further with the plans of privatizing
some departments and units in the health facility.
In a bid to ensure that peace reigns and find a lasting solution to
the rift between the management and staff, the FMC board had also
reversed the query letters given to staff in the course of the feud
between the management and staff of the centre.
In an interview with journalists after a board meeting in the FMC
premises in Owerri, the Imo State capital, South-east Nigeria, the
acting FMC Board Chairman, Sen Onyeka Okoroafor, revealed that the
board has decided to drop the proposal and plans to privatise, as it
was one of the major cause of the crisis brewing in the centre.
On query of members, the board also disclosed that the decision has
been reversed and staff can continue their normal duties without any
interference.
He maintained that the issue of promotion arrears is not only peculiar
to FMC Owerri, noting that all Federal Medical Centres in the country
are affected and can only be addressed by the Federal Government.
The acting Chairman further dismissed the petition levelled against
the FMC Owerri Medical Director, Dr Angela Uwakwem, calling for her
removal on allegations of financial misappropriation, noting that the
allegations are not genuine enough to warrant her dismissal.
Senator Okoroafor stated that they do not have the power to fire or
hire, adding that the only the Federal Government reserves the right
to deliberate on such issues.
The board, however, called on the staff to return to their normal
duties and assured them that every decision taken by the board would
always be in the best interest of the staff.
In the meantime, the protesting workers have maintained their stand
that the Medical Director must be removed from office on allegations
of financial misappropriation, high-handedness and victimization,
positing that until she is removed, they would not return to their
duty post.
The feud between the management and staff of the Federal Medical
Centre, Owerri took a new dimension on Friday when hundreds of staff
of the medical centre took to the streets of Owerri the Imo State
capital.
Carrying placards with various derogatory inscriptions calling for the
removal of their Medical Director, Dr Angela Uwakem, they alleged
financial misappropriation and virement, high-handedness and
victimization.
--ChannelsTV
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