By Zainab Bakare
The Ministry of Defence has clarified that House Officers and Interns at the Armed Forces Reference Hospitals are receiving their allowances, dismissing reports of non-payment as inaccurate.
In a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, Richard Pheelangwah, and made available through the Special Assistant on Media, Leah Katung-Babatunde, the Ministry said payment of outstanding allowances had already commenced, with several batches of beneficiaries receiving payments between March and July 2026.
According to the Ministry, Batches A and B have been paid allowances up to April 2026, while Batch C has received payments for December 2025 and January 2026. It added that efforts are ongoing to clear the remaining arrears as additional funds become available.
The Ministry attributed the delay to the absence of budgetary allocation for House Officers’ and Interns’ allowances from January 2026, stressing that the situation was not caused by any administrative failure.
It explained that it had formally notified the Budget Office of the Federation through official letters dated February 18 and July 1, 2026, requesting urgent intervention to address the funding shortfall.
The statement revealed that a total of 703 House Officers and Interns were engaged under the 2025/2026 House Officers and Interns Programme. While Batches A and B have been paid through April 2026, Batch C, comprising 90 House Officers and Interns, has so far received allowances for December 2025 and January 2026.
The Ministry further disclosed that the outstanding arrears resulted from the omission of funding for the House Officers and Interns Programme in the 2026 Appropriation Act, describing it as an unprecedented development and the first of its kind since the programme began more than four decades ago.
Reaffirming its commitment to resolving the funding challenge, the Ministry thanked the affected House Officers, Interns and their families for their patience, understanding and dedication. It also urged the public to disregard misleading reports and rely only on official communications issued by the Ministry of Defence.
