They called on the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to obey a court judgement, over the use of NMA to collect levies from them.
Some medical doctors in Nigeria have cried out over what they described as illegal deduction from their salaries by the leadership of the Nigeria Medical Association.
They called on the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to obey a court judgement, over the use of NMA to collect levies from them.
A Federal High Court sitting in Enugu had in 2020 granted a perpetual injunction stopping the NMA, from collecting dues, levies from one of its members, Dr. Awkadigwe Fredrick Ikenna.
The court also restrained the association from “continued placing of the building levy, on the online of or offline platforms of Awkadigwe and ordered the association to issue him with all such necessary receipt and annual practicing license for which the plaintiff had made payment vide the remita platform”
The court presided over by Justice I. N. Buba also the sum of N250, 000 as cost in favour of the applicant.
This followed a suit filed against the NMA, by a medical practitioner; Dr. Awkadigwe Fredrick Ikenna where he is asking for the sum of N500 million as general and exemplary damages.
Awkadigwe, sued the association for suspending him because he instituted a suit against it at the Federal High Court, Enugu Division, and National Industrial Court in 2019. The two suits, FHC/EN/CS/02/2019 and NICN/EN/26/2019 are still pending.
The applicant is also querying the association for suspending him while the two separate matters subsist.
In the suit, he is challenging the use of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, MDCN, the regulatory body for all the medical doctors and dentists in Nigeria, for the collection of NMA building levy from doctors across Nigeria.
He asserted that anybody who refuses to pay the levy was denied access to the renewal of the medical license in Nigeria, an action; he described as illegal and has also caused a lot of pain to doctors in Nigeria.
In the order, Justice Buba NMA “is not empowered by law in Nigeria to enforce collection of funds, fees, dues, levies and like collections as prescribed by another body or association from the applicant.
However, one of the doctors who spoke with SaharaReporters said, NMA had turned to another source of agony for Nigerian doctors, noting that the association had been largely unconcerned about her members’ welfare.
He lamented the in 2020, the year of the pandemic, while other governments and nations were subsiding their citizens and appreciating their front line workers with increments in salaries and allowances, the association’s leadership decided it was time to impose a ‘building levy’ on all medical doctors and dental surgeons in Nigeria.
The doctor claimed that caucuses now run the affairs of NMA. Stressing that the election of national executives is made by a few members and the decisions made by these undemocratically selected excos are not open for debate by all members across the country not to talk of vote or agree on them before they are made binding on all members.
The source, who challenged MDCN to publish on its website the list of doctors active in Nigeria for all eyes to see, urged it to stop downgrading the certificates of Nigerian trained doctors.
He said MDCN should refund levies collected to doctors, while NMA should stop deducting fees from salaries their salaries without consent.
He said, “The primary role of the MDCN is to regulate the training and practice of the medical and dental professionals in Nigeria in accordance with the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act which established the council.
"The NMA on the other hand is a professional body of quasi-voluntary members for only qualified medical doctors registered with the MDCN and its primary role is to protect the interests and welfare of all her members while defending the reputation of the medical profession.
"NMA has been largely unconcerned about her members’ welfare but has turned to another source of agony for Nigerian doctors. The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), a separate association of mostly young resident doctors, medical and dental officers has had to take up the task of fending for the welfare of her members who make up the large proportion of doctors in the country.
"The NMA, contrary to the expectations of many of her members operates with exclusivity of a lot of her members, especially the younger, newer doctors. Caucuses run the affairs of the association.
"In 2020, the year of the pandemic, while other governments and nations were subsiding their citizens and appreciating their front line workers with increments in salaries and allowances, NMA’s leadership decided it was time to impose a ‘building levy’ on all medical doctors and dental surgeons in Nigeria.
"NMA went ahead to make payment of the ‘building levy’ compulsory and to be collected by MDCN before they can even be allowed to pay for their annual license to practice not to talk of renewing the annual license to practice.
"In other words, doctors are forced to pay for a ‘building levy’ or they are no longer ‘qualified’ to practice medicine and surgery in Nigeria by MDCN. This is a great infringement on the rights of Nigerian Doctors and completely beyond the constitutional roles of MDCN to serve a tax collector for NMA.
"These organisations that are meant to support the few qualified doctors left in the country are doing just the opposite through extortions. To further discourage foreign trained doctors from returning to Nigeria to establish practice here, MDCN in 2021 reeled out compulsory a 6-month course for all foreign trained doctors before they can be allowed to take the exams already prescribed by MDCN, passing these exams have always been a pre-requisite for these category of doctors to get registered by MDCN.
"However, MDCN added another layer of frustration to the registration process for the foreign trained doctors with the compulsory course and of course with compulsory humongous fees to be paid for it as well. It took the intervention of the National Assembly to truncate this policy by the MDCN which sort to serve only the interests of MDCN.
"Yet again in 2022, MDCN made another announcement that did nothing short of degrading the qualifications of the Nigerian trained doctors. Before a Resident Doctor is promoted to the rank of Senior Resident, they must have undergone training in a specialty of medicine and surgery for a minimum of two (2) years, attended lectures and conferences and passed the prescribed professional examinations by the postgraduate colleges to obtain certificate of membership in that specialty.
"MDCN on its web portal has downgraded the significance of the certificate obtained at this stage in the career of Nigerian Doctors to “additional knowledge and skills” only rather than “additional qualifications”. It further stressed that “the certificate does not give the bearer specialist qualifications.” As you may well suspect, MDCN also imposes a levy on doctors before they can have their additional qualifications or certificates uploaded on its portal.
"Despite the rigours these doctors go through and the monies paid to obtain these certificates, they cannot have their professional status ungraded or updated unless they’ve made additional payments to MDCN and even sometimes illegal payments are demanded by MDCN’s staff to ensure the details of the doctors are up to date with MDCN.”