NAFDAC workers vow to continue strike

The Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) at the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has vowed to continue its ongoing strike until their demands are met.

The chairman of the union, Adetoboye Ayodeji, made this known in Kaduna on Saturday, October 19, 2024.

Adedeji said it is left for the agency’s management to call the union for negotiation in order to see actionable evidence that things would be done appropriately.

The workers embarked on an indefinite strike on October 7, to demand the review of the 2024 promotion examinations.

The strike was also to address the allegations that the majority of the staff were not promoted as a result of the purported “vacancy slot” from the Head of Service, even when they all qualified to be promoted.

Ayodeji stated that some statutory arrears and other benefits were not paid to some of the staff employed by NAFDAC in 2022.

He explained that the union’s had earlier signed an agreement with the government and NAFDAC management in 2022 bordering on the workers condition of service which ought to have been finalised.

He said: “The issues in the agreement were supposed to be settled in December 2022 but till date, none of the agreement have been complied to.

NAFDAC workers begin strike over promotion, welfare concern

“Allowances that are supposed to be approved on or before December 2022 have not been approved, the condition of service could not be approved.”

Ayodeji said the union had written several letters to the NAFDAC management regarding the concerns without adequate response.

He noted that the agency, in 2024, conducted promotion examinations with many of the staff who passed the examinations not promoted.

He added that the management’s claim was due to lack of vacancy.

“Unfortunately the management was recruiting at the same time into the positions that they claim there was no vacancy while those that are rising through the ranks are not promoted, outsiders are brought to occupy the positions,” Ayodeji said.

The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, in a statement on Monday, denied all the claims.

Adeyeye said NAFDAC had been following the rules on the payment of arrears and estacode, and reiterated the agency’s commitment to promoting the workers’ welfare.

The Star