Suspend Planned Strike, Offer Realistic Solution, Speaker Abbas Tells Resident Doctors

Speaker Tajudeen Abbas has asked members of the National Association of Resident Doctors(NARD) to suspend their planned strike action and allow the House intervene in the dispute.

The Speaker, who spoke at a meeting with the leadership of the doctors in his office, also asked them to offer realistic solution to the issues in dispute.

The resident doctors had embarked on warning strike before the inauguration of the current Tinubu government demanding a 200 percent increase in their salaries and other associated allowances.

They also want the payment of all salary arrears, implementation of the CONMEAS salary structure and new hazard allowance and domestication of the Medical Residency Training Act and payment of medical residency training fund to its members in state tertiary health facilities among others. After suspending the strike, the doctors issued a fresh two-week ultimatum for the government to meet its demands.

However, Speaker Abbas said the decision of the leadership of the doctors to meet with the House is an affirmation of their faith and confidence in the capacity of the House to intervene and resolve the lingering issues in dispute.

He said: “This is most reassuring owing to the fact that the 9th Assembly had previously intervened in this matter. We hope to even go beyond the steps and actions taken by the previous House to ensure that we find a lasting resolution to the ever lingering crisis”.

The Speaker said further that the House was not unmindful of the many sacrifices resident doctors have continued to make in the nation’s health sector in spite of the many challenges they face and the poor conditions within which they work.

According to him, while many doctors have left the shores of the country in pursuit of better working conditions, they have chosen to remain behind in service to their fatherland.

He assured them that the House will deploy every legislative instrument available to us to ensure that they are fully compensated and rewarded for this act of patriotism.