The Delta state government has said over two hundred absentee doctors and nurses under its payroll will be asked to refund their salaries.

The State Health Commissioner, Dr. Joseph Onojame, who spoke to reporters in Asaba, Delta state capital, said this was part of the Oborevwori administration’s efforts to sanitize the health sector in the state.

Dr. Joseph Onojame said that over two hundred ghost workers were discovered in a recent audit of health institutions in the state, especially at the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara.

According to him, the government had lost fifty percent of doctors and nurses employed in health care institutions who had gone abroad in the last few years.

He said: “When we did thorough investigation, we found out that a lot of them have left, so we had to remove them from payroll.”

Dr. Onojame also observed that efforts have also been made to sanitize the Department of Nursing in the state, which has been plagued by allegations of examination malpractice, admission racketeering and corruption.

“The illegal collection that was collected from students for building levy was refunded.

“There is a lecturer who collected money for score; that lecturer will be severely dealt with.

“Some of them (nurses) are used to ‘PAY FOR SCORE,’ now there is nothing like that, you must read to pass your exams,” he said.

Reacting to the development, the State Chairman, National Association of Nurses and Midwives Comrade Philomena Onokpuvie, commended the government policies in the health sector.

Onokpuvie described the situation in the health sector as a challenge that needed urgent attention, and one that requires the active collaboration between the government, health professionals and administrators. (The Nation)

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