TheCable

A federal government delegation led by Isaac Adewole, minister of health, and Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, on Wednesday, met with the leadership of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).

On Monday, the association declared a nationwide strike owing to the failure of the government to meet its demands.

It is, among other demands,  asking the government to pay its members arrears of salaries owed them as well as upgrade those who have met the requisite criteria for promotion.

Speaking before both parties went into a closed-door meeting, Ngige flayed the doctors for embarking on the action, describing it as illegal.

He said they government had already reached out to the group; so it was wrong for it to go on with the action.

“The doctors have breached section 18 of the Trade Dispute Act, which states that once a conciliatory starts between the government and its employee, no party is allowed to take any further action,” he said.

To mitigate the effect of the strike, the minister of health directed all federal hospitals to engage the services of ad hoc and youth corps doctors.