Atiku Backs Doctors’ Strike, Slams FG Over ‘Broken’ Deal

Atiku Backs Doctors’ Strike, Slams FG Over ‘Broken’ Deal

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has thrown his weight behind the planned nationwide strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), accusing the Federal Government of reneging on an agreement over doctors’ allowances.

The association had announced that its members would embark on an indefinite strike from midnight on Tuesday, April 7, following moves by the government to halt the implementation of the revised Professional Allowance Table (PAT).

Secretary-General of NARD, Shuaibu Ibrahim, said the decision was prompted by the government’s plan to discontinue the allowance structure earlier agreed with the doctors.

Reacting in a statement shared on Sunday, Atiku criticised the development, insisting that doctors should not be forced to demand compliance with an already signed agreement.

“The Federal Government signed a deal on the Professional Allowance Table, and now it wants to abandon it. This is not governance; it is betrayal,” he said.

The former vice-president described resident doctors as vital to Nigeria’s fragile healthcare system, noting that many operate under severe pressure and poor conditions.

“Our resident doctors are the last line of defence in hospitals that are already collapsing. They work gruelling hours, in impossible conditions, for pay that insults their sacrifice,” he said. “And now, the government seeks to take away the little that was promised?”

Atiku urged the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently resolve the issues in dispute, including unpaid allowance arrears and other outstanding entitlements, warning that failure to act could worsen the crisis in the health sector.

He listed key concerns to include 19 months of unpaid professional allowance arrears, delayed promotions, and bottlenecks affecting the Medical Residency Training Fund.

According to him, the continued migration of Nigerian doctors abroad reflects deeper systemic failures.

“Every doctor Nigeria loses to the UK, Canada, or Saudi Arabia is a failure of leadership, not a failure of patriotism. You cannot ask people to serve a nation that refuses to honour its own word,” he said.

The former vice-president declared his support for the planned industrial action, urging the government to honour its commitments to avert a shutdown of public hospitals.

“I stand with NARD. Pay what you owe. Honour what you signed. Or explain to Nigerians why their hospitals will go dark,” he added.