Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has ordered the immediate harmonisation of the 2023 and 2025 Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) for workers at the Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), Aba.
Otti gave the directive on Thursday while receiving a report from the hospital’s Board and Management, led by its Chairman, Dr Ezinne Kalu, at the Governor’s Office.
He said improving the welfare and working conditions of healthcare workers remained central to his administration’s efforts to strengthen healthcare delivery in the state.
“The huge investment my administration is making in the health sector, including the consistent allocation of 15 per cent of the state’s annual budget to healthcare, is driven by my desire to provide affordable and quality healthcare to Abians, not to make profit,” he said.
The governor said his administration was also working to reposition ABSUTH as a world-class tertiary health institution, adding that efforts had restored accreditations lost before he assumed office.
Otti further disclosed that facilities previously concessioned to private operators had been recovered and returned to the teaching hospital.
“The facilities have now been returned to the management of the Teaching Hospital,” he said.
On the salary structure, Otti said he was surprised that the 2023 CONMESS he had approved was not fully implemented before the 2025 review.
“When the request came, my understanding is that it was going to be better than the Federal. Before I approved it, I asked a question about total cost of employment so that I could cross-check with my budget. So, when I looked at it, I found that we could accommodate it, and I approved it,” he said.
He added: “Going back to what you have is strange; let us make this job easier for ourselves.”
Otti directed the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Ifeyinwa Uma-Kalu, and ABSUTH Chief Medical Director, Prof Nneka Okoronkwo, to harmonise both salary structures and submit their recommendations.
Earlier, Kalu presented the board’s report, while Okoronkwo thanked the governor for interventions that had addressed several challenges, including salary arrears, promotion approvals and other staff-related issues.
