The House of Representatives has called on the Federal Government to immediately suspend the Chief Medical Director of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Prof. Ikpeme Ikpeme, over allegations of ethnic discrimination in the recruitment of resident doctors at the federal tertiary health institution.
The resolution followed the adoption on Thursday of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by the lawmaker representing Afikpo South/Afikpo North Federal Constituency of Ebonyi State, Mr. Iduma Igariwey.
While presenting the motion, Igariwey drew the attention of the House to media reports alleging that Prof. Ikpeme rejected 17 newly qualified medical doctors posted to UCTH by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) for their compulsory one-year housemanship programme.
According to the legislator, 15 of the 17 affected doctors are Nigerians of Igbo extraction.
He further stated that despite interventions by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), UCTH chapter, and the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Cross River State branch, the CMD allegedly refused to rescind his decision.
“Prof Ikpeme has stood his ground to reject the list on account of the high number of Igbo applicants therein,” Igariwey said.
He warned that the alleged conduct amounted to a breach of constitutional provisions that prohibit discrimination.
“The House is alarmed that by rejecting a bona fide list of medical doctors sent to him by the regulatory body, on ground of tribe/region, Prof Ikpeme is in dangerous violation of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that seeks to protect citizens from discrimination on account of tribe and tongue,” he said.
Igariwey also expressed concern that the alleged action was aggravating the challenges facing Nigeria’s already strained health sector.
“The House is concerned that Prof Ikpeme’s conduct is further compounding the challenges confronting our health care system, and the efforts of the current administration, being that Nigeria’s fragile health care system is facing a critical manpower deficit, as the number of licensed doctors has dropped to about 40,000, far below the estimated 300,000 needed to adequately serve Nigeria’s health care needs (see PUNCH Healthwise Report).
“We frown at the conduct of this highly placed federal officer that encourages brain drain in the health sector, and more importantly, further fractures the delicate ethnic fault lines of our union, leading to divisiveness, insecurity and instability,” he added.
The allegations against Prof. Ikpeme come against the backdrop of persistent complaints by medical associations and civil society organisations over alleged discriminatory practices in some federal institutions, particularly in recruitment and training placements.
In the case of UCTH, reports alleged that the CMD turned away doctors deployed by the MDCN largely because they were predominantly Igbo, raising fresh concerns about ethnic bias in a federally funded institution expected to reflect national character.
The development has attracted criticism from professional bodies, with stakeholders warning that selective acceptance of house officers based on ethnicity undermines merit, national unity and the credibility of medical training in the country.
Observers have also cautioned that such actions, if established, could further discourage young doctors from remaining in Nigeria at a time the country is experiencing significant emigration of health professionals.
At the plenary session presided over by the Speaker, Dr. Tajudeen Abbas, lawmakers unanimously endorsed the motion and resolved that the CMD be suspended with immediate effect.
The House said the suspension was necessary “to ensure he does not interfere with the investigation to be conducted by the Committee on Health Institutions.”
The Committee was mandated to investigate the allegations and report back to the House within four weeks for further legislative action.
