Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has suspended the ‘total, indefinite, and comprehensive’ strike action declared on Saturday over the planned reversal of the implementation of the reviewed Professional Allowance Table (PAT) by the Federal Government.

The association noted that the suspension of the strike followed intervention by the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, and other critical stakeholders. He gave the government a two-week ultimatum to take concrete, measurable, and verifiable steps to address all its outstanding demands.

In a communique issued after its emergency virtual National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held to deliberate on recent developments following its earlier resolution to embark on a strike action, NARD noted that NEC critically reviewed the outcomes of the high-level engagements and interventions by the Vice President Kashim Shettima, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, the Minister of Labour and Employment, the Minister of Finance, the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), and other critical stakeholders, and assessed their implications on existing agreements, staff morale, and the sustainability of healthcare delivery nationwide.

The association demanded immediate reversal of the decision to halt the implementation of the reviewed Professional Allowance Table and immediate payment of all outstanding promotion arrears and salary arrears owed to resident doctors in affected institutions.

NARD also called for immediate processing and full payment of the outstanding 19 months of arrears of the Professional Allowance.

The association said it had noted the assurances given by the Federal Government regarding the commitment to address the planned reversal of the implementation of the reviewed Professional Allowance Table (PAT), outstanding arrears, and other welfare concerns of its members.

It warned that if the Federal Government failed to meet the demands within the stipulated timeframe, the NEC would not hesitate to resume the suspended strike action without further notice.

MEANWHILE, the association at Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Abeokuta, Ogun State, yesterday, joined the national body to suspend its nationwide strike and gave the Federal Government two weeks to fulfil its demands.

Speaking in Abeokuta, the state capital, the President of NARD at FMC, Dr Quadri Olanipekun, said that the doctors at the hospital had suspended their strike and extended it to two weeks following the national body’s directive.

Olanipekun noted that the doctors might resume the strike after the expiration of the two-week ultimatum if the Federal Government failed to fulfil its demands within the stipulated period, stressing the strike was suspended due to the intervention of high-profile personalities in government.