By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The FCT Minister , Barr. Nyesom Wike has put Federal Capital put the administration’s monthly wage bill at N8 billion, adding that the budget for next year would cover concerns raised by various stakeholders and unions.
The Minister explained that the current bill excludes the recent N35,000 wage increase for civil servants.
Wike disclosed this on Wednesday when he received the President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, FCT Chapter, Dr. Rahman Olayinka and the executive members in his office.
The doctors listed several challenges confronting them, Wike said the government may not be able to solve all their challenges but that it would do its best within its capacity .
He said, “People want the government to do things for them. The federal government has just increased salaries by 35,000. But where are the resources? Nobody is asking this question. People just want more money.”
“In FCT the salary a month is N8 billion. I am not talking about this increment now. Now, what are we dependent on? IGR. We must tell ourselves the simple truth. The current expenditure is such that we cannot find infrastructure. When we were in Rivers, we were doing 70 percent for infrastructure and 30 for recurrent.”
Earlier, Dr. Olayinka thanked the minister for attending to some of their challenges within weeks of assuming office.
Dr. Olayinka said that the “Japa Syndrome”, a term used for brain drain, has contributed to the dearth of manpower in FCT’s health sector.
He also called for the purchase or more drugs for FCT hospitals, said, “We still have a shortage of manpower, and it is causing a burn out of the doctors in the FCT. We will like you to consider the health sector when there is recruitment. We need doctors, pharmacists, nurses, lab technicians etc. FCT is at the receiving end of the Japa syndrome.”
“We are being owed arrears of hazard allowance. The previous administration promised to pay us in tranches, and we are right now working with the administration to see how this can be done, he noted.
