The Osun State Primary Healthcare Development Board has cleared the air on the outstanding allowances of the participants that worked on COVID-19 immunization projects.
The agency according to a statement obtained by InsightMedia on Saturday and signed by the Executive Secretary, Dr Bukola Olujide said it’s not in custody of the funds for the payment of the stipends of officers that worked on the project, stating that the ministry of health is in charge.
According to her, the clarification became necessary as a result of calls, SMS and WhatsApp messages that have been coming to her from officers who worked on the project.
The clarification simply reads, “I have been inundated with hate calls and nasty WhatsApp messages on the issue of unpaid stipends of the August – November 2022 Covid-19 Vaccination Participants.
“First, it should be known that the money was paid into a special account – CoPREP (COVID 19 PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE PROJECT) account, domicilled in the State Ministry of Health,with the Signatories being 2 Officers of the Ministry and 1 from the Accountant General Office.
“I am not involved in the payment in anyway and there was no official communication to me as the Head of the State Primary Health Care Board on it.”
While giving assurance of payment to the participants, Olujide said her enquires on the matter is yielding positive results as those in charge will soon do the needful.
“However, I reached out to the CoPREP Manager in the Ministry of Health to find out about the delay in the payments when I got dragged into the matter ,and she said the PS Ministry of Health had requested for the names and details of the beneficiaries of the payment,and the State Immunisation Officer had delayed the submission on account of inability to multitask and delegate.
“She made the submission to the Programme Coordinator at the Ministry of Health on Friday 13th January, 2023, following my strrongly worded memo to her,and the ball is now in the court of the Ministry of Health to take necessary action and get the payments effected.”
