Abia defends redeployment of poly medical staff to hospitals

The Abia state Commissioner of Health, Dr. John Ahukanna has defended the recent redeployment of the Resident Doctor in charge of Abia State Polytechnic Aba Medical Center along with eight Nurses and two other health Staff to government hospitals in the state.

The state Chapter of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) had rejected their transfer to some hospitals in the State saying that as employees of the Polytechnic, their transfer to the Ministry of Health and subsequent redeployment to hospitals by the State Hospitals Management Board (HMB) was not in order.

According to the state Polytechnic SSANIP Chapter Chairman, Nwachukwu Chuks, who spoke on the matter, said their transfer from the Polytechnic service contravened the Polytechnic law he cited as Edict No. 8 of 1994 stressing that this Law empowers the institution to establish a Medical Center headed and employ a Medical Doctor to head it as well as other staff.

He, therefore, decried the transfer of the affected workers querying where the HMB derived the power to redeploy such staff employed by the Polytechnic. He also expressed fears that if the transfer is not reversed, the affected staff may be dislocated and also suffer huge salary loss.

However, providing more clarity on the issue, the Health Commissioner told The Guardian that both the Polytechnic and the Hospitals Management Board are Abia State Government owned Institutions, whose Staffers are in the service of the same government.

He disclosed that the state government discovered what he called a racket in the polytechnic who after ex-raying the racket, found unsatisfactory scenario therein hence government took drastic measures that included dismantling of the Polytechnic governing board, management and its principal officers.