The Lagos State chapter of the Trade Union Congress has condemned what it described as a “coordinated smear campaign” by the Nigerian Medical Association, Lagos Chapter, aimed at discrediting the Acting Medical Director of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Dr. Olugbenga Owoeye.
The TUC, at a press briefing held on Wednesday in Lagos, said the recent claims by the NMA alleging administrative crisis and impropriety in Owoeye’s reappointment were false, misleading, and calculated to derail ongoing progress at the federal health facility.
Speaking at the event, the TUC Chairman, Gbenga Ekundayo, described the NMA’s public statement issued on Sunday against the reappointment of Owoeye as “a well-funded attack from self-serving interests threatened by equity, professionalism, and transformational leadership.”
PUNCH Healthwise had reported that NMA demanded the immediate reversal of the appointment of Owoeye as the Acting Medical Director of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba.
The NMA in the statement signed by its Lagos chairman, Dr. Babajide Saheed, described the appointment as a threat to the institution’s stability and integrity.
The association said the appointment of Owoeye, whose tenure as substantive Medical Director had expired, undermines the established public service rules and could lead to administrative collapse at the hospital.
But TUC, at the press briefing, insisted that there was no leadership or administrative collapse in the hospital as widely speculated by NMA.
The TUC chairman represented by Monsur Adegoke stressed that the reappointment of Owoeye was not only legal but also consistent with extant public service rules and the federal government’s performance-based orientation.
“There is no leadership crisis. There is no illegality. There is no collapse,” he stated.
According to him, the hospital under Owoeye’s leadership has made historic strides, including the long-awaited implementation of the consultancy cadre for qualified hospital pharmacists under the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, an affiliate of JOHESU.
Ekundayo also highlighted the conversion of qualified but previously stagnated staff, the clearing of promotion arrears, and extensive infrastructural upgrades across the facility as direct results of the Acting Medical Director’s reform-minded administration.
“Why is such transformational leadership under attack?” the union leader asked rhetorically.
He accused unnamed groups of attempting to hijack the hospital’s leadership through unethical means.
He said, “This is not about legality or performance; this is about power play and attempts to restore an old order where only a select few benefited.”
The TUC thanked the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Iziaq Salako, for his principled and fair position on the matter, urging him and the Federal Ministry of Health to resist pressure from political interest groups.
“Dr. Owoeye has earned the trust of the federal government, and that trust must not be undermined by falsehoods,” he said.
The union also extended special commendation to President Bola Tinubu for what it called his “unwavering support for competence-driven appointments” in Nigeria’s federal health institutions.
“TUC stands firm in defence of truth, justice and the progress of our healthcare system,” the TUC chairman emphasised.
Also present at the press briefing were representatives of JOHESU, NUAHP, and SSAUTHRIA of the hospital chapters, showing solidarity in support of the acting MD.
