Strike: Reps, doctors’ meeting deadlocked again

President, NMA, Dr. Kayode Obembe

Efforts by the House of Representatives to resolve the ongoing strike by medical doctors in the country failed again on Monday, as members of the Nigerian Medical Association stuck to their demands.

The House of Representatives Committee on Health, led by Mr. Ndudi Elumelu, had held a meeting for over five hours with the NMA leadership in Abuja, in a bid to call off the strike.

The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Health, Dr. Onyebuchi Chukwu; the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Worgu; the Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Dr. Bright Okogu; and top officials of the National Salaries and Wages Commission.

A key issue of discord was the N6.7bn arrears of benefits owed the doctors, calculated in the first instance from January to June, 2014.

However, the total amount, reflecting the new rates of the benefits for the entire year, was put at N13bn.

The committee, after a lengthy discussion, was able to extract a commitment from the DG Budget to pay two months of the arrears to the doctors by the end of August.

Okogu had told the committee that the budget office could only source the two months and nothing more because the financial demands of the doctors were not captured in the 2014 budget.

He assured the meeting that the balance of the other months would be provided in the 2015 budget for appropriation by the National Assembly.

At this point, Elumelu, Worgu and Okogu all pleaded with the NMA to suspend the strike.

But the NMA, represented by its First Vice-President, Dr. Titus Ibekwe, rejected the mode of implementation of the payment.

He stated that if the association accepted the two months, the “new rates must also apply in subsequent months” or there was no agreement.

Elumelu and other committee members tried without success to convince the NMA leadership to understand that there was no way the new rate would apply when there was no provision for the money in the budget.

He pleaded, “We are the parliament, we assure you that this money will be put in the 2014 budget. Accept the two months and call off this strike to save lives. If they fail to put the balance in the budget, we will send the budget back to them. We are saying this on our honour; get your members to call off this strike.”

Ibekwe and his team went out for a five-minute meeting to consider the position of the committee, only to return with their earlier stance. Ibekwe said much as the NMA appreciated the concern of the House to resolve the crisis, the doctors would not accept the mode of implementation of the payment.

“Our members said we have even granted concessions far beyond our mandate.

“So, our position remains, we accept the two months arrears offered and there must be continuity in reflecting the new rates in subsequent months. This is where we stand,” he added.

Elumelu and other negotiators looked frustrated with the insistence of the NMA not to accede to the pleas to accept the payment proposals, as already made.