NASS Directs Nursing Council to Resume Verification of Nurses, Midwives

Juliet Akoje in Abuja

The national assembly has urged the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria to open its site and commence verification of Nurses and Midwives based on its former guidelines, not the revised guidelines for verification dated February 7, 2023, pending the conclusion of investigation by the House Committee on Health Institutions.

This was disclosed in a letter dated 13th August, 2024, titled “Negative Portrayal of the House’s Resolution” and signed by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr. Sani Magaji Tambuwal, to the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria.

Hon. Patrick Umoh on Tuesday, 23 July, 2024 had raised a motion of urgent national importance on the need to safeguard institutional integrity and address any misinterpretation of the House’s Resolution by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria.

While presenting the motion on the floor, Umoh recalled that the House previously urged the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, through a resolution on Tuesday, 26th, February 2024, not to implement the revised Guidelines for Verification dated February 7, 2023, pending investigation by the House.

The lawmaker said that by a letter dated 13th March 2024 and received on 14th March 2024, the clerk to the national assembly communicated the House’s resolution on Tuesday, 27 February 2024, to the Registrar/CEO of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria.

He further said: “On the receipt of the House’s Resolution, the council immediately shut down their site for verification of Nurses and Midwives, and boldly and maliciously wrote on the site: “Verification services suspended in compliance with the directive of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The House did not by any stretch of the imagination or interpretation request the Council to shut down their site for verification of Nurses, rather it requested the council not to implement its guidelines dated February 7, 2023 pending investigation by the House.”

Nigerians across the globe have however expressed worry following a decision by nursing boards in US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and UK to stop accepting nursing certificates from Nigerian Nurses because they can’t verify their authenticity.