Monday, August 11, 2025 - Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State chapter, has accused the State Treasury Office (STO) of introducing a “crisis-prone” revised medical salary scale that allegedly led to “unfair, wicked and unacceptable” deductions from doctors’ July 2025 salary.
In a statement signed yesterday by its Chairman, Dr. Saheed
Babajide Kehinde, the association said the deductions had not been reversed
despite repeated appeals and a three-day warning strike by the Medical Guild,
the umbrella body of doctors employed by the state government.
According to the NMA, the revised salary scale, implemented
by the STO, runs contrary to the interest and welfare of medical and dental
practitioners in the state’s employ.
The association warned that unless the deductions were
reversed, Lagos could face an indefinite strike by doctors, potentially
crippling health care delivery in public hospitals.
“It is sad that despite efforts to prevent disruption of
health care delivery in the state, including the three-day warning strike, the
concerned ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) appear unbothered by the
notice of indefinite strike issued by the Medical Guild,” the statement said.
The association called on the commissioner for Health and
permanent secretaries in the health sector to “defend the integrity, dignity,
security and welfare” of doctors in the state.
It said if doctors embarked on an indefinite strike, the
state’s health leadership should be held responsible “for failing to ensure the
return of the illegal deductions from July 2025 salaries.”
NMA Lagos urged its members to review their July payslips
and compare them with the revised salary scale.
It warned that the STO’s actions could worsen the “Japa”
syndrome, where medical professionals leave the country for better
opportunities abroad.
“Enough of the inactions of members of the medical
profession leading the Lagos State health sector. NMA Lagos is resolute on
ensuring the return of illegally deducted money,” the statement concluded.
The Nation reports that the dispute over salary deductions
for Lagos State-employed doctors began earlier this year.
In April 2025, the Medical Guild accused the state
government of unilaterally cutting doctors’ pay. Following “spirited
intervention and strategic engagement,” the deductions were reversed.
However, in July, the issue resurfaced when the State
Treasury Office reportedly implemented a revised medical salary scale,
resulting in fresh deductions.
The Medical Guild responded by declaring a three-day warning
strike from July 28 to 31, demanding an immediate reversal and full payment of
12-month Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) arrears owed to
honorary consultants at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).
The state government, through the Ministry of Health,
appealed to the Medical Guild to shelve the strike, citing ongoing negotiations
and stressing that this was the first of such labour action by the Medical
Guild in recent years.
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