Following a widely shared video by one of the impacted physicians, the Nigerian Navy has promised everyone that the salary delay affecting certain house officers at the Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital in Calabar, Cross River State, will be resolved within the next two weeks.
The Navy spokesperson, Navy Captain Abi Folorunsho, gave the assurance on Sunday in a post on X while responding to allegations by Dr Innocent, who claimed he and seven colleagues had worked for about 290 days without receiving salaries.
Folorunsho explained that the affected doctors belonged to the supplementary batch of house officers whose salaries are handled by the Ministry of Defence, unlike those in the initial batch who receive their salaries regularly.
“We are addressing this issue. The fact is house officers are managed by the Ministry of Defence, and he was in the supplementary batch, unlike the initial batch, who receive their payments regularly,” he said.
He added that the salary delay was not limited to the Nigerian Navy, noting that house officers in the Army and Air Force hospitals under the same arrangement were experiencing similar challenges.
“However, this situation is not specific to Nigerian Navy hospitals; it also applies to Army and Air Force hospitals,” Folorunsho stated.
Despite the delayed salaries from the Ministry of Defence, the Navy spokesperson said the hospital management had continued to pay an additional allowance to the affected house officers.
According to him, the stipend was paid alongside those received by house officers in the initial batch, whose salaries were being paid consistently by the Ministry.
“Nevertheless, the hospital has consistently paid his allowances (an additional stipend regardless of MOD payments) along with those of the initial batch of house officers, who receive their salaries continuously from the Ministry,” he said.
While acknowledging that the situation was unsatisfactory, she assured that efforts were ongoing to resolve the issue.
“This situation is not ideal, but it will be resolved within the next two weeks,” he added.
The Navy’s response followed a viral appeal by Dr Innocent, who said Saturday marked the 290th day since he and seven colleagues resumed work without receiving salaries from the Ministry of Defence.
In the video, Innocent explained that although they were employed by the Ministry of Defence, they were posted to the Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital, where they carry out extensive clinical duties.
According to him, house officers at the facility man the General Out-Patient Department and Accident and Emergency Unit daily, assist in surgeries and serve as a link between patients and consultants due to a shortage of resident doctors.
“So we do a lot of work here, like a lot of work. We almost literally run this place and we have gone 290 days without pay,” he said.
He added that repeated efforts to resolve the issue with officials of the Ministry of Defence had yielded no result.
“And all our efforts to try and resolve this, which they call Abuja, is to no avail. Nobody’s giving us anything substantial.
“Our contact person at the Ministry of Defence doesn’t seem to know when they’ll pay us. It seems to be beyond him. And right now we do not know what to do,” he said.
Describing the situation as mentally and physically exhausting, Innocent appealed to the authorities to urgently intervene.
“We can’t stay 290 days, that’s over nine months, without being paid,” he said.
