The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, on Thursday, met with top officials of Ministries of Finance, Health, Labour and Employment with a view to averting another nationwide strike by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).
Other stakeholders who attended the meeting include; Director-General of the Budget Office, Mr Ben Akabueze, officials of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour, Yerima Tafa; the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Abdulaziz Abdullahi Mashi; Chairman, Committee of Chief Medical Directors (CMDs), Dr Jafaru Momoh, who is also the CMD of the National Hospital, Abuja, among others.
At the meeting, issues such as non-payment of house officers, abolishment of bench fees, non-payment of national minimum wage, salary shortfall for 2014, 2015, and 2016, residency training allowance, and payment of resident doctors on GIFMIS platform were discussed.
In his remarks, Mr Akabueze disclosed that necessary action was being taken on the issues adding that a recommendation was submitted to the Minister of Finance, Dr Zainab Ahmed, for approval after which payment would be made.
On his part, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget & National Planning, Shehu Shinkafi, who represented the minister, said he would get back to her so that payment could be made before 7th May 2021.
To this end, all the stakeholders resolved to meet on Tuesday, May 4, for a conclusion on some of the issues at stake to avoid the planned resumption of the strike by the doctors.
The Resident Doctors had earlier this month embarked on an indefinite strike, making some demands and insisting that they must be met before they would call off the strike.
However, with the intervention of Speaker Gbajabiamila and other top government officials, the doctors suspended the strike and said if the issues were not resolved, they would resume on May 7.
As part of efforts to put the dispute to rest, Hon. Gbajabiamila visited the resident doctors at their headquarters in Abuja to assure them that actions were being taken to have a lasting solution.
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