We never asked you to forget your arrears - Dr Aham Ukoh tells Abia Resident Doctors

The Abia State Commissioner for finance Dr Aham Ukoh has said that the Governor has not asked resident doctors to forget their arrears as claimed by their leaders. 

According to Aham Ukoh, Debt Management Bill 2020 was just passed recently and Governor signed it into on the 26th of August. The office was established to enable us aggregate our debt locally and foreign; arrears inclusive.

This shows government is conscious of the fact that she is owning some arrears. But government needs to aggregate all so that no one will be cheated during payment times of debt.

After aggregation, we will then work out a program of payment. Simply, this is why debt management office was created. All these have processes and government has consciously started that process which is the promulgation into law of the Abia State Debt Management Bill 2020 which the governor had accented to. Anyone who told you the Governor has asked doctors to forget arrears is not telling you the truth.

“From November 2019, we took over the payment of HMB staff and have been paying them every month up to June 2020.

“They have July and August 2020 outstanding and the process is ongoing to ensure they receive July arrears next week, while August will follow thereafter.

“Resident doctors and other medical staff of HMB are already on a special salary scale termed CONMESS. All those on this special salary scale are already receiving salaries that are above minimum wage.”

In his reaction, the commisioner for Information Chief John Okiyi Kalu said "its not true that we are not paying them minimum wage or had asked them to forfeit twjeir arrears.

“Non-medical staff of HMB and other medical institutions in the state are receiving the new minimum wage because they are not in the CONMESS category.

“All workers in Abia State Ministries, Departments and Agencies who are directly paid by the state government have been receiving the new minimum wage since January 2020 and they do not have even one month in arrears.

“They have long received August 2020 salary and we are in early September.

“With regard to resident doctors working with the state teaching hospital, they are already on CONMESS, which is above minimum wage and nobody asked them to forfeit any earned wage.

“The state government has continued to pay monthly subventions to the teaching hospital and they are expected to add that to the revenue generated by the hospital to pay salaries and fund operations.”