NMA Can’t Pass Vote Of No Confidence On Me, C’River Commissioner
2 min read
Chiemeka ADINDU, Calabar
Cross River state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Betta Edu has described the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, in the state as purely political for passing a vote of no confidence on her and withdrawing their services in the state for what they described as irregularities in handling COVID-19 in the state.
Edu made the assertion when she spoke with TNN over the telephone. She noted that such authority was not bestowed on the association. “NMA has no right whatsoever to pass a vote of no confidence on me. That right does not exist nor do they as an association have the right to say I’m a persona non grata.
“That right belongs to our senior body and of course, our council. It is political and not an issue. It is purely political as they have no right to do that”, she affirmed. She also disclosed that efforts are on ground to ensure that they return their services in the state knowing that lives will be at stake.
She said, “We have been meeting with them since yesterday. We have to be able to take Cross Riverians into consideration and we need to protect them at all cost. And we’ve called for different meetings, the CMD of UCTH was in my office yesterday and we held extensive meetings and of course, we want to involve all parties involved.
“We need to come together to deal with these issues. The NMA has been part of the EOC and if they have issues, they should bring it up at the EOC. There’s no need for the entire rancour. There’s no need for all that. We need to move forward as a people”.
The NMA had on Sunday notified the federal ministry of health about their withdrawal from services in the state. They demanded an explanation from NCDC, why, despite several complaints of compromised testing in the State, investigations have not commenced on the unethical activities carried out by Cross River State COVID-19 task force.
