The Association of Resident Doctors in the Federal Capital Territory has said that none of its demands has been met despite suspending its indefinite strike earlier this week.
This came after the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, on Friday in Abuja, claimed he had already signed off on all requests made by the doctors.
Speaking during the flag-off of the Northern Parkway construction from Ring Road II to Ring III on Shehu Yar’Adua Way, Life Camp, Wike commended the doctors for suspending the industrial action.
“I must commend the resident doctors for calling off the strike, the administration is happy with their understanding. I have signed all the doctors’ requests on my table today,” Wike told reporters.
But the doctors immediately countered his statement, insisting that no demand had been implemented.
President of the association in the FCT, Dr. George Ebong, explained that the strike was only suspended out of respect for the Senate Committee on Federal Territory Area Councils and Ancillary Matters, which intervened in the dispute.
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“The Senate Committee on Federal Territory Area Councils and Ancillary Matters intervened. Even though none of our demands has been met yet, they assured us that they will talk to the minister, and the congress has decided to believe what the Senate committee has said,” Ebong said in a WhatsApp message.
He added that the doctors’ decision was also guided by concern for patients and respect for both the Senate committee and the FCT minister.
“Our high regards for the Senate committee, our respect for the FCT minister and our love for our patients are the reasons for the strike to be suspended, hoping that all our demands would be met. We have to keep saving lives as we have sworn to do,” he added.
The resident doctors had declared an indefinite strike on Monday after a one-week warning strike, accusing the FCT Health Management Board of gross negligence and failure to address “legitimate demands.”
The doctors listed poor welfare conditions, unpaid salaries, unexplained deductions, acute manpower shortages, the psychological toll of long working hours, and the absence of fresh recruitment in FCT hospitals since 2011 as some of their key grievances.
Despite Wike’s public assurances, doctors say they are still waiting for concrete action and warned that failure to meet their demands could force them back to the trenches.
