…urges management to compensate members whose valuables were stolen

The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State, has given the hospital’s management a 21-day ultimatum to pay all outstanding salaries and allowances, warning that failure to do so could result in industrial action.
The doctors’ demands was contained in a communique issue at the end of the association’s August 2026 Ordinary General Meeting(OGM) and signed by the President, Dr. Olanipekun Quadri, and the Secretary, Dr. Olorunfemi Solomon.

The doctors’ demands include: Resolve all outstanding shortfalls; Restore all omitted professional allowances; Pay all arrears arising from salary discrepancies; expedite payment of the outstanding burial rights and entitlements of deceased members and their families; address all other outstanding welfare and professional concerns raised by the Association.
Other demands are to restore accreditation to affected residency training programmes; Address the critical shortage of doctors through adequate and sustainable recruitment; Protect residency training and approved outside postings; Strengthen security within the institution and doctors’ residential areas; and reimburse members affected by the reported theft incidents.

The doctors said that following a comprehensive review of the outstanding demands and concerns affecting members, Congress resolved to issue Management a 21-day ultimatum to satisfactorily resolve all outstanding matters and address the unresolved issues raised by the association.
They explained that the issue of salary shortfalls, which arises from the omission or non-payment of certain professional allowances, including call duty allowance, teaching allowance, rural posting allowance, and specialist allowance, is still affecting some members, as they have not yet had their salaries and allowances fully corrected.
They specifically pointed out their engagement with the management on the issue of insecurity, where burglars broke into the House Officers’ Quarters and carted away valuables, including laptops, saying the affected members were yet to see the replacement of their valuables despite the authority’s compensation promises.

The doctors stressed the need for recruitment of new doctors over shortage of manpower within the centre, which had resulted in excessive workload on the medical practitioners, lamenting that the shortage had significantly affected the well-being of the doctors and efficient delivery.
They expressed concern over denial of annual leave for members, which places additional physical and psychological burdens on the members working under challenging conditions due to manpower shortage and workload, urging the management to recruit additional doctors.

The doctors, however, urged the management to expedite action and ensure that the affected families of deceased members receive their full entitlements and outstanding burial rights as soon as possible, while calling on the management to sustain prompt responsiveness to issues affecting doctors’ welfare.