Trending 
Nigeria’s Ministry of Defence has attributed the delay in paying House Officers and Interns at Armed Forces Reference Hospitals to a budgetary gap in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
The clarification follows a viral social media video in which a House Officer at the Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital, Calabar, alleged that he and his colleagues had worked for about 290 days without receiving their salaries.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Richard Pheelangwah, said payment of the outstanding allowances had commenced.
According to him, the delay was caused by the absence of a budgetary allocation for the House Officers and Interns Programme in the 2026 Appropriation Act, rather than any administrative failure.
“The Ministry of Defence has noted reports alleging the non-payment of allowances to House Officers and Interns at Armed Forces Reference Hospitals. These claims are inaccurate. Payment of outstanding allowances has commenced,” Pheelangwah said.
He explained that the first tranche of payments was made on March 26, 2026, covering January and February allowances for Batches A and B. A second payment followed on April 30, 2026, covering March allowances for the same batches.
According to the ministry, another round of payments was made on July 8, 2026, covering April allowances for Batches A and B, as well as December 2025 and January 2026 allowances for Batch C.
The ministry reiterated that the delay stemmed from the lack of a budgetary provision for the programme in the 2026 Appropriation Act, describing the funding gap as unprecedented.
“The outstanding arrears arose because no budgetary provision was made for the House Officers and Interns Programme in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
“This is an unprecedented development and the first occurrence since the inception of the programme,” the statement said.
The ministry also stressed the importance of the programme, noting that it has remained a statutory and strategic component of the military’s healthcare system for more than four decades.
“For over four decades, the House Officers and Interns Programme has remained a statutory and strategic component of the ministry’s healthcare system, contributing significantly to the training of medical professionals for the Armed Forces of Nigeria and the nation at large,” the statement added.
