FCT resident doctors begin seven-day warning strike

The Association of Resident Doctors, Federal Capital Territory (ARD-FCT), on Saturday embarked on a seven-day warning strike over unresolved welfare and staffing issues, despite repeated engagements with the FCT Administration.

President of ARD-FCT, Dr George Ebong, confirmed the development in Abuja, saying the decision followed resolutions reached at the association’s emergency general meeting on Friday, September 5.

Ebong accused the FCT Administration of failing to address persistent challenges facing doctors, despite extensive dialogue.

According to him, the issues include a lack of manpower, unpaid salaries, unexplained deductions, and the psychological toll of long working hours on doctors, which he said recently contributed to the death of a colleague in Port Harcourt. He also noted that no employment had taken place in the FCT health sector since 2011.

“Doctors in the FCT are under immense pressure, frequently covering multiple departments,” Ebong said, describing the health system as a long-standing failure requiring urgent reform.

The doctors further decried poor working conditions in hospitals, citing a recent case in which a nurse died from a snake bite at Abaji General Hospital.

Ebong accused the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, of ignoring several notifications from the association, and urged the administration to declare a state of emergency on the 14 district and general hospitals in the territory.

“The seven-day warning strike will be uninterrupted. If after seven days the issues raised are not resolved, we will embark on an indefinite strike,” he warned, adding that frontline professionals must be included in decision-making.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Health, Dr Isaq Salako, expressed optimism that the Federal Government’s ongoing negotiations with the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) could avert a prolonged industrial action.

“The National Association of Resident Doctors has issued an ultimatum, but I believe with the level of conversation ongoing, we are making progress. The main issue is the outstanding residency training allowance, about 40 per cent of which for 2025 is yet to be paid,” Salako said in an interview on Channels Television.

He assured that discussions are underway and expressed hope that the dispute would be resolved before the ultimatum expires.

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