On Wednesday, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) delivered a fresh two-week ultimatum to the Federal in an effort to pound home members’ ongoing demands.

After the conclusion of the extraordinary virtual meeting of the National Executive Council (E-NEC), NARD delivered the ultimatum.

This comes after the National Association of Road Directors (NARD) conducted an evaluation of the level of implementation of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the Government on 19th May 2023. This was done in response to the five-day warning strike that the association began on 17th May 2023.

Following an extensive discussion on the aforementioned topics, the NEC came to the following conclusions by a vote of unanimous approval:

“NEC demands the immediate payment of the 2023 MRTF as contained in the approved budget for 2023. This is in accordance with the various agreements we’ve reached with the government.”

“NEC calls on the Government to, without further delay, pay all outstanding arrears owed our members, including the hazard allowance and the skipping arrears of 2014-2016, and the arrears of consequential adjustment of minimum wage, as there is no justifiable reason to keep owing these arrears and allowances. “NEC calls on the Government to, without further delay, pay all outstanding arrears owed our members.”

“We demand the quick publishing and execution of the rules on one-for-one replacement of clinical staff in order to soften the effects of the severe manpower deficit that is currently affecting our numerous hospitals around the country.

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“NEC calls on the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to discontinue the downgrading of the membership certificate issued by the West African Postgraduate Medical and Surgical colleges as this is not obtainable in other parts of West Africa where these same certificates are issued.” “NEC calls on the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to discontinue the downgrading of the membership certificate issued by the West African Postgraduate Medical and Surgical colleges.”

“NEC demands the immediate payment of all salary arrears, implementation of the CONMESS salary structure and new Hazard Allowance, domestication of the Medical Residency Training Act, and payment of the Medical Residency Training Fund to our members in the State Tertiary Health Institutions nationwide.” “NEC demands the immediate payment of all salary arrears.”

“NEC now requests that her ultimatum, which has already run its course and been sent to the Government, be further extended by two weeks, effective as of today, July 5, 2023.

“The NEC of NARD insists on the immediate implementation of a minimum of 200% increment in the CONMESS salary structure and an upward review of the associated allowances, as requested in her previous letters on the subject matter, since the current economic realities in the country cannot justify the continued payment of CONMESS as it is at the moment or any increment below the 200% as demanded. The NEC of NARD also insists on the immediate implementation of a minimum of 200% increment in the NARD salary structure.

“To emphasize this point, at the conclusion of this further extended ultimatum on July 19, 2023, if all of these demands are not met, we will not be able to guarantee that there will be industrial harmony in the Health Sector across the nation.”