Don’t threaten me with strike, I won’t pay you when you resume – Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike warns Abuja doctors

Wike has stated that he has no intention of compensating medical doctors in the FCT who go on strike, and if they insist on pursuing this matter, he will pursue legal action against them.

Additionally, he conveyed to the resident doctors that he expects to achieve cost savings when they engage in industrial action.

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, have been on-and-off industrial actions due to the Federal Government’s failure to meet its demands.

The doctors’ demands among many others include the immediate payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF), tangible steps on the “upward review” of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), and payment of all salary arrears owed its members since 2015.

Reacting to their incessant strikes, the Minister said;

“Make your recommendations, and we will see the ones we can do and those we can’t do. Don’t threaten me with a strike because I don’t like it. When you go on strike, I save money; even if you come back, I won’t pay; we will determine it in court.

“It’s not about promises but the reality on ground, I don’t believe in theory,” Wike said.