NIGERIAN Association of Resident Doctors – NARD, has challenged the Federal Government on the legality of its strike.
The five-day strike commenced at 8am on Wednesday, May 17, and would end Monday, May 22. Though, the Buhari administration had tagged the action as ‘’Illegal.’’
NARD National President, Emeka Orji, Wednesday asked the Federal Government to point out the part of the law that makes the strike illegal.
“I believe that there is no law that says that a warning strike is illegal. If they say a warning strike is illegal, let them prove it to us. We want to see the part of the law that says that a warning strike is illegal,” Orji said on Channels Television.
According to the NARD President, the association had satisfied all the provisions before embarking on a strike, adding that the National Executive Council – NEC, has given the association the mandate to proceed on a warning strike.
“If they resolve all these, we won’t come here and be talking about whether it is NMA or NARD or any other affiliate that should take up these points to the government. These issues are germane, and we want to appeal again that we are open to discussion.
“If they call us to discuss and address these issues, we believe many of them can be addressed in a matter of days and there won’t be a need for all these crises we are having in the health sector,” he said.
NARD issued a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government on April 29, 2023, asking the current administration to commence the implementation of all pending agreements or the doctors will embark on a nationwide strike.
In response to the ultimatum, the Nigerian government described the doctors as ridiculous.
