The House of Representatives has called on the federal government to suspend the Chief Medical Director of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Ikpeme Ikpeme, over allegations of ethnic bias in the recruitment of house officers.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance during Thursday’s plenary, moved by Iduma Igariwey (PDP, Ebonyi).
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Presenting the motion, Mr Igariwey drew attention to reports alleging that the UCTH management rejected 17 newly qualified medical doctors posted to the hospital by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) for the compulsory one-year housemanship programme.
According to the lawmaker, 15 of the affected doctors are of Igbo origin, and the CMD allegedly declined to accept the list because of what was described as a disproportionate number of applicants from a particular ethnic group.
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Mr Igariwey told the House that efforts by professional bodies, including the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) at UCTH and the Cross River State branch of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to resolve the matter had not yielded results.
He warned that the alleged action contravenes constitutional provisions that prohibit discrimination based on ethnicity, describing it as a serious breach by a senior public officer.
“The House is alarmed that by rejecting a bona fide list of medical doctors sent to him by the regulatory body, on ground of tribe or region, Prof Ikpeme is in dangerous violation of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that seeks to protect citizens from discrimination on account of tribe and tongue,” he said.
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The lawmaker further argued that the development was detrimental to Nigeria’s already strained health sector, noting that the country is grappling with an acute shortage of medical personnel.
He said Nigeria currently has about 40,000 licensed doctors, far below the estimated 300,000 required to meet national healthcare needs, warning that actions perceived as discriminatory could worsen brain drain in the sector.
“We frown at the conduct of this highly placed federal officer that encourages brain drain in the health sector, and more importantly, further fractures the delicate ethnic fault lines of our union, leading to divisiveness, insecurity and instability,” Mr Igariwey added.
The UCTH controversy is not an isolated case. Similar concerns have arisen in other federal institutions over perceived violations of the Federal Character Principle, which aims to ensure equitable representation of all ethnic and geographic groups in public appointments.
In March 2025, the Senate directed its Committee on Federal Character and Inter‑Governmental Affairs to investigate whether ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) were complying with the Federal Character Principle in recruitment, appointments and promotions.
This, the Senate said, was to ensure fair and equitable representation across all zones and ethnic groups in appointments, promotions and recruitment.
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During Thursday’s plenary, presided over by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, lawmakers unanimously supported the motion and resolved to suspend Mr Ikpeme immediately to prevent interference with an investigation by the House Committee on Health Institutions.
The committee was mandated to probe the allegations and report back to the House within four weeks for further legislative action.
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