Industrial court threatens to jail director of Federal Medical Centre

The National Industrial Court has said it would sentence the Chief Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, Liasu Ahmed, to one month imprisonment for disobeying a court order to pay the salaries of resident doctors of the hospital.

The judge, Oyejoju Oyewumi said if Mr Ahmed failed to pay the doctors before the end of work on Monday, he would go to jail for one month.

The Association of Resident Doctors, FMC, Owo chapter, had earlier dragged Mr. Ahmed to court after he refused to pay the doctors October and November 2016 salaries.

The court had ordered that Mr. Ahmed pay one out of two months salaries, but he reportedly refused.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the unpaid salaries were those held back due to a no-work-no-pay policy of the hospital’s management when the doctors went on an industrial action sometime last year.

Although the doctors were paid while they were on strike for the two months, Mr Ahmed via a circular ordered that the workers should not be paid after they resumed work in October 2016 because ‘they were paid while on strike and did not work.’

The counsel to the medical association, Kehinde Ojo, said the court ruled against the CMD because he failed to comply with the court order.

Mr. Ojo said Mr. Ahmed failed to convince the court why he did not comply with the previous order of the court on the payment.

The President of the Association of Doctors, Abel Fakorede, praised the judgment, saying that the court had shown that it was the last hope of the common man.

PREMIUM TIMES’ findings reveal that the CMD could not meet the condition at the close of work, but lawyers from both parties had reportedly reached an agreement to allow him pay at a later date.

It was however not possible to confirm at the time of filing this report if he was sent to jail as ordered by the court.