The Environmental Health Council of Nigeria has over 1,500 medical professionals who have not received their salaries in the past 20 months.
The inability of the council to pay stemmed from the directive of the federal government to cut off funding from certain agencies of government.
The Environmental Health Council of Nigeria, established by Act 11 of 2002 as amended, is Nigeria’s primary body overseeing environmental health regulations and a wide range of activities that prevent the spread of diseases.
In 2014, during the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria, environmental health officers played a vital role in the fight against the virus.
Also, in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, the environmental health officers were deployed in all entry borders, including airports, sea ports and land borders. Most importantly, the regulators were also at the field carrying out internal and external decontamination of premises to prevent further spread of the virus.
Recall that in 2023, a memo signed by the former Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, stated that certain agencies and regulatory bodies would become fully self-funded and responsible for personnel, overhead and capital expenditures.
“I wish to inform you that the Presidential Committee on Salaries, at its 13th meeting, approved the discontinuation of budgetary allocation to professional bodies/councils effective 31st December 2026,” the memo read.
Reports confirmed that some of the 30 agencies would be funded up until 2026.
For the rest, funding by the Federal Government would cease effective December 2024.
By 2024, a list of 26 councils was published by the Federal Government through the Budget Office.
The list confirmed that funding cuts would begin that year, saving the country an estimated N27.72bn.
