FMC Owerri Health Workers Open Letter to President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR

OPEN LETTER TO MR PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI GCFR ON FINANCIAL RECKLESSNESS, HIGHHANDEDNESS AND CONNIVANCE OF THE MEDICAL DIRECTOR, DR ANGELA UWAKWEM WITH THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF HEALTH TO NULLIFY THE ALLEGATIONS TENDERED BY FMC OWERRI HEALTH WORKERS:

​Your Excellency Sir,
The Entire Staff of the Federal Medical Centre Owerri wishes you merry Ramadan Kareen and congratulatesyou once more on your well deserved victory at the just concluded election. We say congratulations to you Sir.


​It is unfortunate that when the workers of FMC Owerri ought to be merry with other Nigerians over the freedom you brought to the entire nation by winning in a landslide victory at the polls, the Medical Director of FMC Owerri Dr Angela Uwakwem with her Agents have denied us such in a lot of hemorrhaging issues that range from financial misconducts, highhandedness, impunity to mention but a few. We plead you patiently bare your mind on the origin of the ongoing crisis in FMC Owerri.

The medical director of FMC Owerri Imo State had a meeting with the leaders of Unions and Associations on 21st April 2015 where she reaffirmed news flying in the hospital for her proposed public private partnership on pharmacy, medical laboratory services, radiology and radiography whereas pharmacy and laboratory services generate over 62% annually of the hospital’s IGR. The leaders took the monologue to their members for deliberation and suggestions. Before the staff could knew it, she smuggled the proposal to the board of management for approval on 29th April 2015 without consulting the relevant stakeholders.

On reception of that, the workers protested to the board to step down the proposal but the Medical Director, Dr Angela Uwakwem refused and uttered over her dead body. Before we could wait for board’s invitation, the Medical Director quickly went to radio station (HOT FM 99.5) people’s Assembly on 7th May 2015 to label FMC Owerri staff as inefficient, non transparent, non accountable and said that the revenue of the hospital has been dwindling and need for PPP. The unions sent her members of executive on 8th May 2015 via the same radio station and debunked the entire allegations raised by the Medical Director. The Medical Director issued queries to the union, citing oath of secrecy which in no way contravenes the act of freedom of information bill of 2011. The board directed her to withdraw the queries.

​The Unions wrote the board chairman which the Medical Director suppressed. The unions declared 3 day warning work-to-rule strike before the board’s committee chairman on finance and general purpose called for a meeting with other unions and associations of the centre. On the cause of discussion with the committee, the unions and associations discovered that the Medical Director, Dr Angela Uwakwem vired N242milion personnel money released to the hospital last year 2014, knowing fully well that 2013/2014 promotion arrears have not been paid.

​More so, the board now invited the unions and they discussed a whole lot of financial recklessness and highhandedness of the Medical Director. The house unions equally forwarded a letter of gross financial misconduct and highhandedness of the Medical Director, which the same board never invited the house unions leaders for resolution. Thereafter, the unions (NANNM, MHWUN and NUAHP) came together and officially declared indefinite work-to-rule strike on 15th May, 2015 after series of evidence on financial recklessness and highhandedness were tendered by the workers.

​The Unions equally wrote the Federal Ministers of Health and copied many relevant bodies. The reference number to the Federal Ministry of Health letter is HU/GFM/01/07. The Federal Ministry of Health invited us and the principal officers in the ministry were shocked when photocopies of evidence of gross financial misconduct were tendered. The permanent secretary, (who is now taking side with the Medical Director, Dr Angela Uwakwem) promised of setting up a committee that will handle this case of weighty allegations of fraud on any day from 1st to 5th June, 2015. Up till now nobody has been seen rather the permanent secretary connived with the Medical Director to publish abusive words on workers of the centre on page 53 of THISDAY NEWSPAPER on 4th June, 2015; and such publication was in tandem with the publication of the Medical Director on SUN NEWSPAPER of 28th May 2015, page 55.

​The Federal Medical Centre Owerri with over four hundred bed spaces and presently among the few functional tertiary health institution in the South East Nigeria has been engulfed in a crisis of high magnitude centering on gross financial misconduct and highhandedness by the Medical Director, Dr Angela Uwakwem for about 7 weeks now. The Federal Ministry of health has since kept aloof and watches on akimbo.

​It is disheartening that instead of the Federal Ministry of Health addressing the issues contained in a petition written to her by the FMC Owerri house Unions comprising NANNM, MHWUN and NUAHP as well as implementing the agreement reached with the same house Unions leaders in a meeting of 25th May, 2015 at 1st floor Federal Ministry of Health Abuja, the ministry rather chose to address issues that were neither raised nor in the written petition during the meeting.

​We are compelled to believe that the management of the Federal Ministry of Health by the position presented by the permanent secretary in a press release dated 3rd June 2015, made available to news correspondents have been influenced into siding the Medical Director.

​Your Excellency sir, at this point, it is on report that FMC Owerri is one of the Health institution frequently visited by the EFCC. With due respect your Excellency, we plead to you to investigate the report of EFCC on financial activities of the centre under the administration of Dr Angela Uwakwem as the Medical Director.

​Your Excellency Sir, the board of management of FMC Owerrisat on 8th June, 2015 (CON/FMC/OW/AD.04/Vol. xii) and recommended that the Medical Director and Top management of the hospital should proceed on administrative leave while a new Medical Director takes over to pave way for investigations to be carried out on such allegations but the permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health said he can’t comply to the board’s decision. More so, our National bodies have visited and raised a communiqué supporting the board’s decision.

​​Mr President, is this fair? Our heart bleeds. Mr President sir, critically go through these allegations of financial recklessness and highhandedness below:

1. Financial Misappropriation
a. Virement​
The House Unions have discovered that the personnel money left in the hospital’s account last year, 2014, for personnel projects was vired into capital project by the Medical Director of the hospital knowing fully well that 2013/2014 promotion arrears are yet to be paid. The capital project was the refurbished CT-Scan purchased at 168million naira and which the process of the purchase never passed through procurement steps. The virement letter does not have authorized features and proper procedure for obtaining such virement was not followed. The HOD account rejected the signing of the illegal process for obtaining the virement letter. His post was advertised and he was equally removed from substantive HOD to acting HOD of accounts by the Medical Director.

a. Over Time:
It is a naked truth that the Medical Director paid herself overtime. Overtime as enshrined in extant rules is only paid to workers on Grade level 14 and below. Our Medical Director is on grade level 17 top salary and enjoys overtime. Such indictment is huge and contravenes public service rules (PSR), 130117.

b. Employment Racketeering:
The Medical Director employ staff and back date their appointment letters. This has been her practice in the hospital for some years now. The monies for the back dated months are never paid to the staff. She did a lot of them prior to the inception of IPPIS.

c. Clinical Dress (overall) Allegation:
The Medical Director claimed that she paid a total of N25,000,000 (25million naira) as uniform allowance to the clinical staff for the year 2011. On
investigation, the clinicians said that they buy these coats by themselves, because the hospital finds it difficult to provide them on request and they
cannot continue waiting. She only bought accident and emergency and theatre cloths. Can such worth N 25M?

d. Gas piping of wards:
Approval for the gas piping of wards has been done severally and such contracts were never executed. The monetary implication has been channeled
into personal pockets.

e. Illegal payment of salary and other Emoluments.
The husband of Medical Director, Dr Benneth OnuorahUwakwem was been paid salary when he was doing his houseman ship (internship) at UPTH, River State (pay slips are available) after 20 years of medical practice.

f. Illegal withdrawal of Money.
Illegal withdrawal of over N500million from accounts of FMC Owerri from January to March 2012. Police came and arrested staff of Accounts and Audit
Department, but the case was stalled. Thereafter, the Medical Director dealt with the staff that she suspected wrote petitions, by way of demotion, sack, reshufflements, transfer to other sections. The staff in question are ready to testify.

g. Duplication of payment Voucher Numbers
There was duplication of payment voucher numbers resulting in using the same numbers being allocated to different payments.

Some examples are:
• Payment voucher No. 554 was used twice to pay the following;
❖ Overtime for Amadi Paully and others (N565,965.48) on 30/12/11 and
❖ Conference for Njoku Ugochi Stella (N139,200) on 30/12/11

• Payment voucher No. 556 was used to both:
❖ Seminar and training for Teri Bros Int. Ventures Ltd on 31/12/11 (N4,900,000)
and
❖ Seminar and training for Teri Bros Int. Ventures Ltd on 31/2/11 (N4
,900,000).

h. Ghost Project
Majority of the projects budgeted and fully funded were never executed. Clear example is in year 2010, CT-scan was budgeted, paid for and never
seen.

i. Unaccounted IGR
The internally generated revenue was never accounted for example:
• Monthly NHIS capitation = N13,950,000 (N13.95M)
• Other IGR such as DRF, feeding of patients, revolving fund are not prudently managed. Every transaction in this account is fictitious.

2. Highhandedness
a. Victimization:
There is no security of job in FMC Owerri. The Board can testify that the MD’s administration has witnessed more queries, warning letters, suspensions, withdrawals from service, resignations, termination of appointments etc than any other regime in the history of the centre. Sometimes, the board’s decisions are doctored to suit MD’s own before communication to staff even without the Board knowing of such counter decisions example prof. Ivara Esu Led board ordered the Medical Director to include HOD Pharmacy as a signatory to DRF account but she never complied to such order. A genuine complaint made to board through the MD most at times never gets to the board. Even some Board’s decision favourable to some staff with financial implications are never implemented by management and when the staff complains to the Board through the MD, the written complaint is suppressed.

There seems to be a heavy discrepancy between IPPIS payment in FMC Owerri and that of other similar institutions example a Senior Pharmacist in FMC
Owerri collects about N189,000 per month while a Senior Pharmacist in FMC Owo OndoState collects about N237,000. In FMC Owerri the opposite is the case. The
oppressive regime of the MD has victimized so many intelligent and hardworking staff of the centre for so many years that some of those they documented on entry into service are now their seniors.

The MD’s fair hearing and treatment is subjective and personal. While some senior staff have no comfort or privacy in their offices, some who came into service a few years ago have all the comfort and promotion because of their relationship with her.

The privileges and advantages of being a public servant under the PSR (Public Service Rule) do not apply to the staff of FMCO. Many staff have been stagnated over years for one particular position without promotion example: Head of Radiography, Head of Physiotherapy, Dr Mrs Jovita Daniel of Physiotherapy, Head of Pharmacy, Dr Mrs Maria Opara and Dr Mrs Maureen Nwosu of Pharmacy Department, Head of Medical Records, Head of Medical Library (Mr Isidore Amadi), many nurses to mention but a few. A staff’s compassionate leave was reduced from his annual leave because he went to bury his father and so many cases like that. Some of the FMC Owerri workers were placed on wrong grade and steps when appointment letters were issued to them.

It was on record that a nurse was queried for eating “over sized” loaf of bread she bought with her money while on night duty not minding that the Medical Director stopped issuance of call food to staff on night duties or on call duties. A doctor in this hospital was sacked on allegation of having a hearing difficulty but today, he is a senior Registrar in a teaching hospital. Another doctor was denied access to hospital ambulance for emergency medical treatment at Mephis Hospital, Enugu, and due to the delay of securing a private ambulance for such emergency, he died on the way. Similarly, a doctor was also denied sick leave to travel to India for cancer surgery and he decided to use his annual leave which expired while the cancer therapy was still ongoing. She stopped the doctor’s salary and payment for such treatment fractured because the doctor was paying for the treatment with his salary and later died for lack of money.

In a nutshell, the Medical Director is highly annihilative and vindictive. The workers sincerely requests for her suspension over these weighty allegations to be investigated.

In conclusion, the staff have lost confidence in her ability to manage man, materials, finance and resources and plead she should be suspended and a new Medical Director appointed so as to give way for undiluted investigation, since she cannot be a judge in her own case.