Nurses sue Council, Minister over certificate verification policy

Nigerian Nurses have continued to kick against the certification verification policy with the latest being a lawsuit filed against the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN).

The Council had on February 7, 2024 issued a circular making it mandatory for applicants to have two years of post-qualification experience before their certificates can be verified by foreign boards. The guidelines came into effect on March 1, 2024.

This attracted many criticisms from the Nurses who are seeking greener pastures outside the country, complaining of poor welfare of Nurses in the Nigerian health sector.

The Nurses staged protests across the country, prominent of which were the protests held in Lagos, Ibadan and Abuja.

The suit was filed by eight nurses on behalf of their colleagues against the NMCN, the Minister of health, and other relevant parties at the National Industrial Court in Abuja.

The complainants, including Desmond Aigbe, Kelvin Ossai, and others, are seeking an injunction to prevent the implementation of the new guidelines until the court decides.

Their lawsuit argues that the NMCN’s requirements infringe on their right to pursue better career opportunities and training abroad. They request the court to suspend the implementation of the “revised guidelines for verification of certificates,” and prevent the defendants from hindering nurses’ rights to emigrate for work.

They are also urging the court to order the NMCN to continue processing certificate verification requests within seven days of application.

At the proceedings on Wednesday, counsel for the complaints, Ode Evans, told the court that he had just received the preliminary objection filled by the first and second defendants some moments ago.

He pleaded with the court to adjourn the matter to enable him reply to their applications.

Evans said, “I confirmed the receipt of the application from the first and second defendants this morning. We shall be asking for a date to enable us to file our responses.”

Justice Osatohanmwen Obaseki-Osaghae adjourned the matter till May 20, 2024, for a hearing.