The Nigerian Medical Association, Kogi State chapter, has rejected the proposed percentage salary payment to its members by the state Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello.


A statement by the NMA Chairman in Kogi, Dr Kabiru Zubair, on Sunday in Lokoja, said the NMA strongly rejected any salary cut for doctors and other health-care workers in the state.

The statement read, ‘’’The NMA is not unaware of the ongoing global pandemic of COVID-19 and the consequent economic downturn. But the NMA strongly rejects any salary cut for doctors and other health-care workers.

‘’This is because doctors in Kogi State have just been getting along on half salaries before now, occasioned by the non-implementation of the corrected CONMESS (Consolidated Medical Salary Structure), the new minimum wage of N30,000.00 and its consequential adjustment, skipping and relativity, promotion and annual step increment.

‘’Hence, the average doctor working with the Kogi Civil Service is already at a serious financial disadvantage compared to his or her counterpart working with the Federal Civil Service or other states in the Federation where these salary adjustments have been implemented.’’


Zubair stressed that any further cut on the salaries of doctors would further impoverish them and accelerate the exodus of doctors from the state civil service.

The chairman noted that the Federal Government had recently increased the hazard allowance of all HCWs from N5,000 monthly to 50 per cent of their consolidated basic salary in order to encourage and retain them to do more for the nation.

‘’The NMA expected the Kogi State Government to take a similar step to encourage and retain her HCWs at this time and not to cut wages.

‘’This is not the time to start losing doctors and other HCWs due to salary matters as we are in the middle of a health-care war that we do not know when it will end,’’ Zubair said.