RESIDENT doctors working in public hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have vowed to continue their indefinite strike until all outstanding demands are met.
They vowed that they would continue to down tools whether or not the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) suspends its ongoing nationwide action.
The Association of Resident Doctors, FCTA chapter (ARD-FCTA), said the decision followed the government’s failure to implement resolutions reached after several interventions by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and the National Assembly.
The association said despite months of assurances, none of the promises made had been fulfilled.
Speaking during a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, November 3, ARD-FCTA President, George Ebong, lamented that the strike, which was earlier suspended six weeks ago to give room for negotiation, had to resume because the authorities failed to meet agreed timelines.
He explained that doctors in FCT hospitals were not only paid late but also underpaid compared to their colleagues in other federal institutions.
“Unfortunately, none of our demands have been implemented. We’re back to where we were before; nothing has been positive yet. “Today, being the 3rd of November, we have not even been paid last month’s salary. It has become a culture in FCTA that salaries are not paid as of when due.
“We get the month’s salary the following month, and even the following month, we get them in the first week or second week of the following month. It has become a trend. When our counterparts in other institutions are getting their salaries paid to them, we struggle to get ours paid, and when we get our salaries paid, it’s never complete.
“And of course, we have the demands that we begged the management to please fix. Knowing so well that these demands are very important in such a way that doctors will have the passion to practice. But unfortunately, this has actually not happened,” Ebong said.
He added that 28 doctors employed in 2023 were still being owed salaries despite repeated appeals to the administration.
He further stressed that newly recruited external resident doctors had not been paid for over seven months, forcing some to resign due to financial hardship.
Ebong also faulted the administration for allegedly failing to release the Medical Residency Training Fund for 142 doctors, which had already been approved at the federal level. The fund, he said, was essential for supporting doctors’ medical training and professional development.
The ARD-FCTA president further accused the FCTA of attempting to employ new doctors at the wrong entry level—CONMESS 2 instead of CONMESS 3 to reduce the salary scale by nearly N200,000.
He described the state of healthcare infrastructure in the FCT as deteriorating, with doctors overworked and hospitals inadequately equipped to handle the rising patient load. Ebong alleged that some senior officials within the administration were deliberately delaying the implementation of directives already approved by Minister Wike.
“We believe the honourable minister may not have the full picture. It is disappointing that despite his approval, certain persons are holding back implementation. We appeal to him to act decisively.
“We can’t fix the medical system on the pages of newspapers. These problems must be fixed on the ground. We are ready to work, but we can’t give what we don’t have,” he stated.
The ICIR reports that the ARD-FCTA’s decision to continue its strike came amid a nationwide shutdown of medical services following NARD’s declaration of an indefinite strike over similar grievance.
NARD’s national president, Muhammad Suleiman, said the federal government had failed to demonstrate the political will to resolve long-standing welfare and salary issues despite repeated dialogues and strike extensions.
According to him, doctors and other health workers are owed between ₦35 billion and ₦38 billion in accumulated allowances, with some institutions owing salaries dating back several months.
He noted that the nationwide strike was necessitated by unpaid arrears, delayed promotions, poor working conditions, and the failure to review doctors’ salaries for over 16 years.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M