The Association of Resident Doctors in the Federal Capital Territory (ARD-FCT) has suspended its three-day warning strike after the intervention of the FCT Minister, Nyesome Wike.
The President of the Association, George Ebong, in a statement on Friday night said the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) under the minister had met their demands.
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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that ARD-FCT had on Wednesday, 22 January, commenced a three-day warning strike to press home some demands from the FCTA.
The strike grounded most of the government hospitals in the FCT, as the doctors claimed that some of them employed in 2023 were yet to receive some arrears, allowances, and other benefits.
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The doctors also listed the deplorable conditions of some of the hospitals in the FCT and a manpower shortage, among other demands.
However, Mr Ebong in the statement revealed that its members have started receiving the alerts of unpaid six-month salary arrears.
The ARD-FCT President said that the minister had approved, as well as ordered immediate payment of the accoutrement allowance owed members.
He said that the minister had also given approval for medical residency bonding training to be two years; as well as approval of immediate employment of doctors and allied health workers.
Mr Ebong said that the minister had also given approval for payment of locum doctors and other health workers that were being owed, noting that “with the intervention of the minister, doctors are expected to resume work with immediate effect.”
He added that the intervention had also put an end to the impending indefinite shutdown of hospitals in Abuja, while urging the minister to brace up and meet other demands to avert future strike action.
“On behalf of the executive members and the entire supreme congress of ARD-FCTA, I, Dr. George Ebong, deeply appreciate the minister for his prompt and timely intervention in meeting our demands, thereby ending our warning strike.
“We also humbly plead with the Minister to put a mechanism in place to avoid a repeat of this anomaly. We are hopeful that other demands will be attended to in due time,” Mr Ebong said.
The ARD-FCTA leader expressed the association’s belief in the capacity of the minister to turn the FCT health sector around as a stakeholder in the renewed hope agenda.
Mr Ebong also used the opportunity to invite the minister to all the district hospitals in the FCT, while assuring him of doctors’ continued support in the realisation of the administration’s agenda.
(NAN)
