Atiku calls out FG over Resident Doctors scheduled industrial action
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the federal government over the planned industrial action by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, accusing authorities of failing to honour agreements reached with medical professionals.
In a statement on Sunday, Atiku said resident doctors should not have to struggle to receive benefits already approved by the government.
“The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors should not have to beg for what has already been agreed upon. The Federal Government signed a deal on the Professional Allowance Table, and now it wants to abandon it. This is not governance; it is betrayal,” he said.
He described resident doctors as the backbone of Nigeria’s fragile healthcare system, warning that their welfare should not be neglected given their critical role in patient care.
“Our resident doctors are the last line of defence in hospitals that are already collapsing. They work gruelling hours, in impossible conditions, for pay that insults their sacrifice. And now, the government seeks to take away the little that was promised?”
Atiku also called on the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address key demands raised by the doctors, including unpaid allowances and delays affecting their training funds.
“The Tinubu administration must demonstrate commitment to the issues: 19 months of unpaid Professional Allowance arrears; promotion arrears gathering dust; a Medical Residency Training Fund stuck in bureaucratic limbo; and a government that treats its doctors as an afterthought.”
He further expressed concern over the continued migration of Nigerian doctors abroad, linking the trend to poor welfare and unmet obligations by the government.
