OPEN LETTER TO MR
PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU
BUHARI GCFR ON FINANCIAL
RECKLESSNESS,
HIGHHANDEDNESS AND CONNIVANCE OF THE
MEDICAL DIRECTOR, DR ANGELA UWAKWEM
WITH THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF HEALTH TO
NULLIFY THE ALLEGATIONS TENDERED BY
FMC OWERRI HEALTH WORKERS:

Your Excellency Sir,
The Entire Staff of the Federal Medical Centre
Owerri wishes you merry Ramadan Kareen and
congratulatesyou once more on your well
deserved victory at the just concluded
election. We say congratulations to you Sir.
It is unfortunate that when the workers of FMC
Owerri ought to be merry with other Nigerians
over the freedom you brought to the entire
nation by winning in a landslide victory at the
polls, the Medical Director of FMC Owerri Dr
Angela Uwakwem with her Agents have denied
us such in a lot of hemorrhaging issues that
range from financial misconducts,
highhandedness, impunity to mention but a
few. We plead you patiently bare your mind on
the origin of the ongoing crisis in FMC Owerri.
The medical director of FMC Owerri Imo State
had a meeting with the leaders of Unions and
Associations on 21st April 2015 where she
reaffirmed news flying in the hospital for her
proposed public private partnership on
pharmacy, medical laboratory services,
radiology and radiography whereas pharmacy
and laboratory services generate over 62%
annually of the hospital’s IGR. The leaders
took the monologue to their members for
deliberation and suggestions. Before the staff
could knew it, she smuggled the proposal to
the board of management for approval on 29th
April 2015 without consulting the relevant
stakeholders.

On reception of that, the workers protested to
the board to step down the proposal but the
Medical Director, Dr Angela Uwakwem refused
and uttered over her dead body. Before we
could wait for board’s invitation, the Medical
Director quickly went to radio station (HOT FM
99.5) people’s Assembly on 7th May 2015 to
label FMC Owerri staff as inefficient, non
transparent, non accountable and said that
the revenue of the hospital has been dwindling
and need for PPP. The unions sent her
members of executive on 8th May 2015 via
the same radio station and debunked the
entire allegations raised by the Medical
Director. The Medical Director issued queries
to the union, citing oath of secrecy which in no
way contravenes the act of freedom of
information bill of 2011. The board directed her
to withdraw the queries.
The Unions wrote the board chairman which
the Medical Director suppressed. The unions
declared 3 day warning work-to-rule strike
before the board’s committee chairman on
finance and general purpose called for a
meeting with other unions and associations of
the centre. On the cause of discussion with the
committee, the unions and associations
discovered that the Medical Director, Dr Angela
Uwakwem vired N242milion personnel money
released to the hospital last year 2014,
knowing fully well that 2013/2014 promotion
arrears have not been paid.

More so, the board now invited the unions and
they discussed a whole lot of financial
recklessness and highhandedness of the
Medical Director. The house unions equally
forwarded a letter of gross financial
misconduct and highhandedness of the
Medical Director, which the same board never
invited the house unions leaders for resolution.
Thereafter, the unions (NANNM, MHWUN and
NUAHP) came together and officially declared
indefinite work-to-rule strike on 15th May,
2015 after series of evidence on financial
recklessness and highhandedness were
tendered by the workers.
The Unions equally wrote the Federal Ministers
of Health and copied many relevant bodies.
The reference number to the Federal Ministry
of Health letter is HU/GFM/01/07. The
Federal Ministry of Health invited us and the
principal officers in the ministry were shocked
when photocopies of evidence of gross
financial misconduct were tendered. The
permanent secretary, (who is now taking side
with the Medical Director, Dr Angela
Uwakwem) promised of setting up a
committee that will handle this case of weighty
allegations of fraud on any day from 1st to 5th
June, 2015. Up till now nobody has been seen
rather the permanent secretary connived with
the Medical Director to publish abusive words
on workers of the centre on page 53 of
THISDAY NEWSPAPER on 4th June, 2015; and
such publication was in tandem with the
publication of the Medical Director on SUN
NEWSPAPER of 28th May 2015, page 55.
The Federal Medical Centre Owerri with over
four hundred bed spaces and presently among
the few functional tertiary health institution in
the South East Nigeria has been engulfed in a
crisis of high magnitude centering on gross
financial misconduct and highhandedness by
the Medical Director, Dr Angela Uwakwem for
about 7 weeks now. The Federal Ministry of
health has since kept aloof and watches on
akimbo.

It is disheartening that instead of the Federal
Ministry of Health addressing the issues
contained in a petition written to her by the
FMC Owerri house Unions comprising NANNM,
MHWUN and NUAHP as well as implementing
the agreement reached with the same house
Unions leaders in a meeting of 25th May, 2015
at 1st floor Federal Ministry of Health Abuja,
the ministry rather chose to address issues
that were neither raised nor in the written
petition during the meeting.
We are compelled to believe that the
management of the Federal Ministry of Health
by the position presented by the permanent
secretary in a press release dated 3rd June
2015, made available to news correspondents
have been influenced into siding the Medical
Director.
Your Excellency sir, at this point, it is on report
that FMC Owerri is one of the Health institution
frequently visited by the EFCC. With due
respect your Excellency, we plead to you to
investigate the report of EFCC on financial
activities of the centre under the administration
of Dr Angela Uwakwem as the Medical
Director.
Your Excellency Sir, the board of management
of FMC Owerrisat on 8th June, 2015 (CON/
FMC/OW/AD.04/Vol. xii) and recommended
that the Medical Director and Top
management of the hospital should proceed
on administrative leave while a new Medical
Director takes over to pave way for
investigations to be carried out on such
allegations but the permanent Secretary,
Federal Ministry of Health said he can’t
comply to the board’s decision. More so, our
National bodies have visited and raised a
communiqué supporting the board’s decision.
​​Mr President, is this fair? Our heart bleeds. Mr
President sir, critically go through these
allegations of financial recklessness and
highhandedness below:

1. Financial Misappropriation
a. Virement​
The House Unions have discovered that the
personnel money left in the hospital’s account
last year, 2014, for personnel projects was
vired into capital project by the Medical
Director of the hospital knowing fully well that
2013/2014 promotion arrears are yet to be
paid. The capital project was the refurbished
CT-Scan purchased at 168million naira and
which the process of the purchase never
passed through procurement steps. The
virement letter does not have authorized
features and proper procedure for obtaining
such virement was not followed. The HOD
account rejected the signing of the illegal
process for obtaining the virement letter. His
post was advertised and he was equally
removed from substantive HOD to acting HOD
of accounts by the Medical Director.

a. Over Time:
It is a naked truth that the Medical Director
paid herself overtime. Overtime as enshrined in
extant rules is only paid to workers on Grade
level 14 and below. Our Medical Director is on
grade level 17 top salary and enjoys overtime.
Such indictment is huge and contravenes
public service rules (PSR), 130117.

b. Employment Racketeering:
The Medical Director employ staff and back
date their appointment letters. This has been
her practice in the hospital for some years
now. The monies for the back dated months
are never paid to the staff. She did a lot of
them prior to the inception of IPPIS.

c. Clinical Dress (overall) Allegation:
The Medical Director claimed that she paid a
total of N25,000,000 (25million naira) as
uniform allowance to the clinical staff for the
year 2011. On
investigation, the clinicians said that they buy
these coats by themselves, because the
hospital finds it difficult to provide them on
request and they
cannot continue waiting. She only bought
accident and emergency and theatre cloths.
Can such worth N 25M?

d. Gas piping of wards:
Approval for the gas piping of wards has been
done severally and such contracts were never
executed. The monetary implication has been
channeled
into personal pockets.

e. Illegal payment of salary and other
Emoluments.
The husband of Medical Director, Dr Benneth
OnuorahUwakwem was been paid salary when
he was doing his houseman ship (internship)
at UPTH, River State (pay slips are available)
after 20 years of medical practice.

f. Illegal withdrawal of Money.
Illegal withdrawal of over N500million from
accounts of FMC Owerri from January to
March 2012. Police came and arrested staff of
Accounts and Audit
Department, but the case was stalled.
Thereafter, the Medical Director dealt with the
staff that she suspected wrote petitions, by
way of demotion, sack, reshufflements,
transfer to other sections. The staff in question
are ready to testify.

g. Duplication of payment Voucher Numbers
There was duplication of payment voucher
numbers resulting in using the same numbers
being allocated to different payments.
Some examples are:

• Payment voucher No. 554 was used twice to
pay the following;

❖ Overtime for Amadi Paully and others
(N565,965.48) on 30/12/11 and

❖ Conference for Njoku Ugochi Stella
(N139,200) on 30/12/11


• Payment voucher No. 556 was used to both:

❖ Seminar and training for Teri Bros Int.
Ventures Ltd on 31/12/11 (N4,900,000)
and

❖ Seminar and training for Teri Bros Int.
Ventures Ltd on 31/2/11 (N4
,900,000).

h. Ghost Project
Majority of the projects budgeted and fully
funded were never executed. Clear example is
in year 2010, CT-scan was budgeted, paid for
and never
seen.

i. Unaccounted IGR
The internally generated revenue was never
accounted for example:

• Monthly NHIS capitation = N13,950,000
(N13.95M)

• Other IGR such as DRF, feeding of patients,
revolving fund are not prudently managed.
Every transaction in this account is fictitious.

2. Highhandedness

a. Victimization:
There is no security of job in FMC Owerri. The
Board can testify that the MD’s administration
has witnessed more queries, warning letters,
suspensions, withdrawals from service,
resignations, termination of appointments etc
than any other regime in the history of the
centre. Sometimes, the board’s decisions are
doctored to suit MD’s own before
communication to staff even without the Board
knowing of such counter decisions example
prof. Ivara Esu Led board ordered the Medical
Director to include HOD Pharmacy as a
signatory to DRF account but she never
complied to such order. A genuine complaint
made to board through the MD most at times
never gets to the board. Even some Board’s
decision favourable to some staff with
financial implications are never implemented
by management and when the staff complains
to the Board through the MD, the written
complaint is suppressed.
There seems to be a heavy discrepancy
between IPPIS payment in FMC Owerri and
that of other similar institutions example a
Senior Pharmacist in FMC
Owerri collects about N189,000 per month
while a Senior Pharmacist in FMC Owo
OndoState collects about N237,000. In FMC
Owerri the opposite is the case. The
oppressive regime of the MD has victimized so
many intelligent and hardworking staff of the
centre for so many years that some of those
they documented on entry into service are
now their seniors.
The MD’s fair hearing and treatment is
subjective and personal. While some senior
staff have no comfort or privacy in their offices,
some who came into service a few years ago
have all the comfort and promotion because of
their relationship with her.
The privileges and advantages of being a
public servant under the PSR (Public Service
Rule) do not apply to the staff of FMCO. Many
staff have been stagnated over years for one
particular position without promotion example:
Head of Radiography, Head of Physiotherapy,
Dr Mrs Jovita Daniel of Physiotherapy, Head of
Pharmacy, Dr Mrs Maria Opara and Dr Mrs
Maureen Nwosu of Pharmacy Department,
Head of Medical Records, Head of Medical
Library (Mr Isidore Amadi), many nurses to
mention but a few. A staff’s compassionate
leave was reduced from his annual leave
because he went to bury his father and so
many cases like that. Some of the FMC Owerri
workers were placed on wrong grade and
steps when appointment letters were issued to
them.

It was on record that a nurse was queried for
eating “over sized” loaf of bread she bought
with her money while on night duty not
minding that the Medical Director stopped
issuance of call food to staff on night duties or
on call duties.


A doctor in this hospital was
sacked on allegation of having a hearing
difficulty but today, he is a senior Registrar in
a teaching hospital. Another doctor was
denied access to hospital ambulance for
emergency medical treatment at Mephis
Hospital, Enugu, and due to the delay of
securing a private ambulance for such
emergency, he died on the way. Similarly, a
doctor was also denied sick leave to travel to
India for cancer surgery and he decided to use
his annual leave which expired while the
cancer therapy was still ongoing. She stopped
the doctor’s salary and payment for such
treatment fractured because the doctor was
paying for the treatment with his salary and
later died for lack of money.

In a nutshell, the Medical Director is highly
annihilative and vindictive. The workers
sincerely requests for her suspension over
these weighty allegations to be investigated.
In conclusion, the staff have lost confidence in
her ability to manage man, materials, finance
and resources and plead she should be
suspended and a new Medical Director
appointed so as to give way for undiluted
investigation, since she cannot be a judge in
her own case. source:
www​.medicalworldnigeria.com/.../fmc - ...

In a concise mannar pls

Na sam blood dey run for all dis md's system I swear

no be new thing...this practice needs to be halted. doctors will understock the hospital's pharmacy department and diverts the subsidized drugs to their own store.

now, when a patient who was compelled to buy at the hospital's pharmacy cldnt get the drug, they will direct them to the doctor's pharmacy.

note, the doctor only operates the pharmacy thru proxy!

I dont accept this whole story for now.
even if this whole stuff are TRUE, she did because her heart is evil and wicked.....not necessarily bc she id a Doctor.
if found wanting, she should be jail.
a lot of evil people are seen in all sectors of human endeavor not just Doctors

A Lot is happening in this Medical Centre for sure....

A lot of weirder conducts by this MD... May this president get this, I pray for my colleagues in FMCO...