The leadership of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has confirmed the suspension of its one-week warning strike which it embarked upon on Wednesday, the 17th of May.
President of the association, Dr. Emeka Orji, told reporters on Monday that the association suspended the action for two weeks after reaching some agreement with the government over the weekend.
He, however, stated that the doctors will meet again on the second day of June this year to review progress made with the agreement signed after which the association will decide on their next line of action.
Africa Today News, New York had earlier reported that the resident doctors and the Federal Government have reached an agreement over the five-day warning strike embarked upon by the association.
On the 17th of May, NARD began a five-day warning strike to press home its demands after a 14-day ultimatum to the government lapsed.
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The doctors are demanding, among other things, the payment of all salary arrears for their members as well as the immediate upgrade of infrastructure in public hospitals.
The Federal Government had last week entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), geared towards halting the five-day nationwide warning strike of resident doctors.
The MoU was signed at the end of a conciliation meeting convened by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige in his office on Friday.
The meeting which lasted for about five hours addressed all the eight issues raised by the striking resident doctors.
They are the non-payment of salaries of doctors by state governments, domestication of the reviewed Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF) for the year 2023, the bill at the National Assembly on the bonding of doctors for five years before licensing, the circular on immediate replacement of exited doctors, and immediate payment of the 2023 MRTF.
The others are arrears of Consequential Adjustment on Minimum Wage, Skipping Arrears, and the review of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS).