The Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), NAFDAC Branch, has announced that it will continue its ongoing strike until their demands are met.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Kaduna, the chapter’s Chairman, Adetoboye Ayodeji, emphasized that the agency’s management must initiate negotiations to provide clear evidence of their commitment to resolving the issues.
Workers at NAFDAC began their indefinite strike on October 7, primarily to demand a review of the 2024 promotion examinations. The strike also aims to address concerns about delayed promotions.
Ayodeji claimed that some statutory arrears and benefits owed to staff employed by the agency in 2022 remain unpaid. He pointed out that the union had previously signed an agreement with the government and NAFDAC management in 2022 regarding the workers’ conditions of service, which should have been finalized by December 2022.
“The issues in the agreement were supposed to be settled in December 2022, but to date, none of the agreements have been complied with. Allowances that should have been approved by December 2022 have not been granted, and the condition of service remains unresolved,” he lamented
The chairman noted that the union had sent multiple letters to NAFDAC management regarding these concerns but received inadequate responses. He further alleged that in 2024, the agency conducted promotion examinations but did not promote many staff who passed, attributing this to a lack of vacancies.
“Unfortunately, the management was recruiting for positions they claimed had no vacancies, while those advancing through the ranks were not promoted. Instead, outsiders were brought in to fill these roles,” Ayodeji alleged.
He expressed concern that only about 36 percent of the participants in the examinations were promoted, stating, “We therefore said no, it is never possible. They cannot promote less than 80 percent of the participants. We rejected the entire promotion exercise and demanded that more staff be promoted. There can never be motivation in an agency where only 36 percent of staff are promoted. This will severely impact staff morale and, consequently, the health of the 200 million Nigerians.”
Ayodeji also highlighted that part of the reason for the strike was the unresolved issue of allowances that have been pending for over 20 years. Despite notifying NAFDAC management of their concerns and issuing a two-week notice before the strike, the union received no response.
In response, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, NAFDAC’s Director-General, issued a statement denying the union’s claims. She stated that the agency has been adhering to regulations regarding the payment of arrears and estacode and reiterated its commitment to promoting the welfare of its workers.
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