Korede Abdullah 
CROSS RIVER, Nigeria – The Cross River State Advocacy Team for Tuberculosis Elimination has intensified calls for urgent action to address salary delays and staffing shortages affecting primary healthcare workers, warning that the challenges are undermining healthcare delivery and disease control efforts across the state.
During a high-level advocacy visit to the Auditor-General for Local Government on Friday, the group’s leader, Effiong Udobong, urged authorities to improve welfare conditions for health workers and review salary structures to boost morale and service delivery.
The visit was conducted under the Integrated Community-Led Monitoring programme, which seeks to identify and address systemic weaknesses in healthcare systems.
Udobong expressed concern over delays in salary payments to newly recruited healthcare workers, particularly those serving in rural communities.
“Prompt remuneration is not a perk but a prerequisite for functional health services,” he said.
He warned that the payroll challenges are weakening efforts to combat major public health threats, including tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria, while placing additional pressure on already understaffed health facilities.
According to him, communities facing shortages of healthcare personnel are bearing the consequences of the situation through reduced access to quality healthcare services.
Responding, the Auditor-General for Local Government, Bassey Abam Eko, acknowledged the concerns and disclosed that irregularities in the recruitment process contributed to the salary delays.
He said Governor Bassey Otu remains committed to strengthening the health workforce and assured stakeholders that corrective measures are being implemented.
Eko encouraged the advocacy team to sustain its monitoring role and continue engaging communities on accountability issues.
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Oluwatobi Adu 
Mirian Gom 
Edino Chubiyo Cornelius 