*We have written FMOH for guidance \u2014UCTH<\/p>\n
*We don\u2019t post House Officers \u2014\u00a0MDCN<\/p>\n
*Our professional body is in control \u2014NMA<\/p>\n
By Chioma Obinna, Joseph Erunke,& Ike Uchechukwu\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The management of\u00a0the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, UCTH, has disclosed that the 17 House Officers posted to the institution by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria,\u00a0MDCN, are safe and at no risk whatsoever.<\/p>\n
Recall that 17 House officers posted to UCTH for their Housemanship, had claimed that they were rejected on account of their tribe and region.<\/p>\n
Also reacting,\u00a0MDCN\u00a0said it did not post the medical graduates allegedly rejected for housemanship at the UCTH, adding the graduates independently select their preferred institutions for the mandatory one-year housemanship programme.<\/p>\n
On its part, the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Prof. Bala Abdul said the body was in control of the situation and handling the matter directly even as he expressed confidence that a resolution would be established through professional channels.<\/p>\n
Reacting to allegations of the safety of the 17 House Officers, the hospital management stated that it had taken note of reports circulating regarding the resumption of some of the House Officers recently posted to the hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wish to clearly state that all House Officers who reported to UCTH are safe and not at any risk as their welfare remain important to the hospital management, and no one has been subjected to harm, or unsafe conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issues currently being discussed relate to administrative and regulatory processes connected to postings and clearance. These matters are being handled through the appropriate official channels.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn line with due process, a formal communication has been made to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and other relevant authorities for guidance and resolution.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile this process is ongoing, we appeal for calm and patience from all concerned,\u201d the UCTH stated.<\/p>\n
Also in a petition obtained by Vanguard, dated January 9, 2026,\u00a0 UCTH alleged sharp practices within the\u00a0MDCN\u00a0through a proxy (Doclumina Networking) to surreptitiously collect illegal fees from prospective House Officers with vested interest in selected hospitals, including the UCTH.<\/p>\n
The petition with reference number UCTH\/ DCMAC\/270 by Deputy Chairman Medical Advisory Committee (Training & Research), Dr. Felix Archibong,\u00a0 directed to the\u00a0MDCN\u00a0Registrar alleged that the mentioned group had approached young doctors and requested between N250,000 to N300,000\u00a0 for deployment to choice areas.<\/p>\n
Efforts to reach the Chief Medical Director, Prof Ikpeme\u00a0 Ikpeme, proved abortive, as he wasn\u2019t taking his calls.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t post House Officers \u2014\u00a0MDCN<\/p>\n
The Council stated that, contrary to insinuations in some quarters, it does not post medical graduates to training institutions but merely approves their chosen placements based on available vacancies.<\/p>\n
Responding to Vanguard\u2019s inquiry, an\u00a0MDCN\u00a0official, who requested anonymity, said the Council did not deploy the graduates to UCTH.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is wrong to say that\u00a0MDCN\u00a0posted the graduates to UCTH. We don\u2019t post people. What we do is approve the choices made by candidates based on the availability of vacancies. The graduates indicated UCTH as their choice for housemanship, and we approved it for them based on the vacancies available at the time,\u201d the source added.<\/p>\n
When asked about the fate of the graduates following their alleged rejection by the hospital, the official said: \u201cIt is not\u00a0MDCN\u00a0that should tell them what to do. I believe they themselves know what to do at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n
At press time, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare was yet to respond to Vanguard\u2019s inquiry on the matter.<\/p>\n
The Ministry\u2019s Director of Press and Public Relations, Alaba Balogun, who was also contacted, said he was still working on an official response as at press time.<\/p>\n
Our professional body is in control \u2014 NMA<\/p>\n
Reacting to the development in a telephone chat with Vanguard, the President of NMA, Prof. Abdul who explained that only\u00a0MDCN, has the legal authority to post and approve house officers for training in any institution and that the association was in total control of the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in touch with the\u00a0MDCN\u00a0on this matter, and they are handling the issue directly, and we don\u2019t want it to turn into a matter of unionism because we are very confident that the issue will be resolved.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur professional body is in total control of the situation. This is the position of NMA. We did not go to the press, we followed the proper channel. We do not want it to turn into a union issue. Our professional body is in total control of the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abdul said the development raises serious professional concerns, stressing that institutions accredited for housemanship are under obligation to accept candidates posted to them by the council.<\/p>\n
According to him, the\u00a0MDCN\u00a0remains the only government regulatory body empowered under Nigerian law to recognise hospitals for housemanship training and determine their intake capacity.<\/p>\n
Complaint<\/p>\n
Recall that one of the young doctors, in a complaint, obtained by Vaguard, had said: \u201cI am a House officer that was posted to UCTH to begin my Housemanship, I got to Calabar on Sunday, I met with others that also travelled from distant locations to resume House Job duties, for context I base in Lagos, although I\u2019m from the East, on Monday we went to the administrative building to meet with the CMD and also begin our clearance and orientation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo my surprise he rejected us, all 17 of us, he told us he has petitioned the list of House officers sent to the facility to\u00a0MDCN, and until\u00a0MDCN\u00a0replies he\u2019s not clearing us. He gave his reasons, some of which are:\u00a0 Why 15 of 17 HO\u2019s are from one tribe\/region;\u00a0 Why are there no Cross Riverians in the list of posted Officers from\u00a0MDCN; and they told\u00a0MDCN\u00a0they have 50 slots, why are we 17?<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly sir, I was shocked. He went on to talk about how it\u2019s becoming a normal thing, how we Igbos we\u2019re coming to saturate the whole place, he accused us of paying to get the placements, he said he has evidence but failed to show us any evidence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole thing is just frustrating, we don\u2019t even have accommodation as we speak most of us sleep on the floor in the room of older house officers in the facility with just wrapper on the floor, these house officers go ahead to tell us how it\u2019s a regular thing there, in some cases he will approve clearance for the house officers from other tribe, then reject the ones from Igbo telling them \u201cGo to the East, there\u2019s no space.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOne person even got in touch with the CMD of their own University\u2019s teaching hospital, where they graduated, he spoke to him and he said the list would be cancelled, he blatantly told the two non Igbos that they\u2019re unfortunately caught up in this mess and nothing will be done, telling us to stop hanging around the premises and travel back home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSir I\u2019m honestly tired, I never for once thought I will face this level of tribalism in my life. National Association of Resident Doctors UCTH and NMA Cross River branch reached out to him, still he was adamant. All these are factors that ignites the JAPA mentality amongst healthcare workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cSir please help us, I have never felt so much regret for studying this course like I felt these past two days.\u201d the young doctor had stated.
\nThe post MDCN, UCTH in counter claims over rejection of 17 House Officers appeared first on Vanguard News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
*We have written FMOH for guidance \u2014UCTH *We don\u2019t post House Officers \u2014\u00a0MDCN *Our professional body is in control \u2014NMA … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-4308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-african-news","tag-general-africa-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n