Speaker Abbas to meet Tinubu over resident doctors’ planned strike

Tajudeen Abbas, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has said he will be meeting with President Bola Tinubu in furtherance of efforts to avert the planned industrial action by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).

According to Abbas, his meeting with the President would be to intimate him of the pending issues raised by NARD and appeal to the President on how to resolve them.

The Speaker disclosed this during a meeting with the national leadership of NARD on Monday in his office in Abuja, where he also announced the setting up of an ad hoc committee to be chaired by the House Leader, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, which will meet with all the stakeholders to address the issues.

The ad hoc committee also has the immediate-past Chairman of the 9th House Committee on Healthcare Services, Tanko Sununu (All Progressisves Congress, Kebbi), as the Deputy Chairman, while all the medical practitioners in the House would be co-opted.

Speaker Abbas directed the ad hoc committee to swing into action immediately.

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Ripples Nigeria reports that in May, resident doctors embarked on a five-day warning strike due to the Federal Government’s failure to meet their demands. They, also, in July, issued a two-week ultimatum to the government for the implementation of all its demands.

Abbas, during the meeting on Monday, however appealed to the resident doctors to give the House leadership two weeks period to find solutions to the issues raised, adding that the 10th House was inaugurated a little over a month ago, appealing to the resident doctors to see reason with the current leadership and “give us a little time to address this matter.”

He said: “Your decision to meet with the House is an affirmation of your faith and confidence in our capacity to intervene and resolve the lingering issues in dispute. This is most reassuring because the 9th Assembly had previously intervened in this matter. We hope to even go beyond the steps and actions taken by the previous House to ensure that we find a lasting resolution to the ever-lingering crisis.”

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