The Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) branch, has vowed to continue its ongoing strike action till their demands are met.
In an interview with newsmen yesterday in Kaduna, the Chairman of the Chapter, Adetoboye Ayodeji, said it was left for the agencys management to call the union for negotiation in order to see actionable evidence that things would be done appropriately.
Recall that workers of the agency began an indefinite strike on October 7, to demand the review of the 2024 promotion examinations.
The strike was also to address the allegations that the majority of the staff were not promoted as a result of the purported vacancy slot from the Head of Service, even when they all qualified to be promoted.
Ayodeji also claimed that some statutory arrears and other benefits were not paid to some of the staff employed by the agency in 2022. He explained that the union had earlier signed an agreement with the government and NAFDAC management in 2022 bordering on the workers condition of service which ought to have been finalised.
Ayodeji said the union had written several letters to the NAFDAC management regarding the concerns without adequate response. He also alleged that in 2024, the agency did promotion examinations with many of the staff who passed the examinations not promoted. He added that the managements claim was due to a lack of vacancies. Ayodeji wondered why not up to 220 staff were promoted in the examinations that were written by over 700 staff.
Speaking further, the chairman said part of the reason for their strike action was an issue of allowances in the staff salaries that had lingered for over 20 years. According to him, the union had written to the NAFDAC management but no reason or explanation was given and even issued a two-week notice before the strike but no response.
Meanwhile NAFDACs Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, in a statement issued on Monday, denied all the claims. She claimed that the agency had been following the rules on payment of arrears and estacodes, and reiterated its commitment to promoting the workers welfare.
