Labour Minister Chris Ngige Says COVID-19 Hazard Allowances Have Cost The Government N15.8 Billion

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has stated that the federal government has spent N15.8 billion on hazard allowances in teaching hospitals and medical centers in the nation.

Ngige made the comments while addressing newsmen in a meeting with the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) leadership in Abuja on Monday, July 27, 2020.

The Resident Doctors had recently threatened to go on strike next month if their needs (which includes payment of hazard allowance) were not met.

Ngige said at the meeting the government was committed to the safety and welfare of all health workers in the country.

The federal government has so far spent N15.8 billion naira for hazard allowances in its teaching hospitals, medical centers, and some other non- COVID-19 facilities where doctors have also been treating virus cases.

Government has cleared the April and May special allowances which is no doubt a big feat, knowing that this is for special allowances only, and at a time its earning has fallen short of the expected earning.

The affected medical personnel will also draw their normal salaries and other allowances.”

Speaking further, he clarified that the June allowances for the medical personnel were still outstanding because the budget has been affected by other demands that were not originally captured.

The Minister also disclosed at the meeting that the government has paid all the premium for Group Life Insurance spanning between April 17, 2020, and April 16, 2021, for all federal civil servants except those in the revenue-generating agencies such as customs, FIRS and NNPC who could afford their own insurance.   He said an agreement has been reached to forward the nominal roll of the Health Ministry workers and its parastatals to the six handling insurance companies latest next week for payments.