By Adedapo Adesanya
Workers under the aegis of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) have vowed to continue their ongoing strike until their demands are met.
Business Post reported recently that the workers had embarked on a strike on October 7 over welfare benefits and failure to promote due individuals after it demanded the review of the 2024 promotion examinations.
In the latest development, the Chairman of the union, Mr Adetoboye Ayodeji, over the weekend said it was left for the agency’s management to call the union for negotiation and equally show actionable evidence that things would be done appropriately.
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.
Mr Ayodeji addressed that some statutory arrears and other benefits were not paid to some of the staff employed by the food and drug regulatory body in 2022.
According to him, the union had earlier signed an agreement with the government and NAFDAC management in 2022 bordering on the worker’s condition of service which ought to have been finalised.
“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 are supposed to be approved on or before December 2022 have not been approved, the condition of service could not be approved.”
Mr Ayodeji said the union had written several letters to the NAFDAC management regarding the concerns without adequate response.
He noted that the agency conducted promotion examinations this year with many of the staff passing the examinations but were not promoted, adding that the management’s claimed that this was due to a lack of vacancies.
“Unfortunately the management was recruiting at the same time into the positions that they claim there was no vacancy while those that are rising through the ranks are not promoted, outsiders are brought to occupy the positions,” Mr Ayodeji said.
At the beginning of the actions, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Mrs Mojisola Adeyeye, in a statement denied all the claims by the union.
Mrs Adeyeye said NAFDAC had been following the rules on the payment of arrears and estacode, and reiterated the agency’s commitment to promoting the workers’ welfare.