Resident Doctors Fault FG’s Claim of N11.9bn Payment, Say Only N500m Allocated to Them

The President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Muhammad Suleiman, has dismissed the Federal Government’s claim that N11.9 billion would be released within 72 hours for the payment of outstanding arrears and allowances to doctors and other health workers nationwide.

Suleiman clarified that only about N500 million of the alleged amount is meant for resident doctors, contrary to the figure announced by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

The ministry, in a statement signed by its Deputy Director of Information, Alaba Balogun, on Saturday, said the government was releasing N11.9 billion to cover arrears and accoutrement allowances as part of efforts to address doctors’ welfare concerns and restore peace in the health sector.

The announcement came amid an ongoing nationwide strike by resident doctors across 91 federal and state tertiary hospitals over unpaid arrears, delayed allowances, and other welfare-related issues.

Responding, Suleiman described the ministry’s claim as misleading, explaining that the arrears and accoutrement allowances have been owed for more than two years and cut across all health sector workers, not just doctors.

“The 25–35 per cent arrears date back over two years and involve all categories of staff within the health sector, including administrative workers,” he said. “The total bill was about N48 billion, but the government pegged it at N41 billion. Out of this, only N11 billion is for all doctors, while resident doctors get less than N10 billion since we make up about 60 per cent of doctors.”

According to him, the actual sum agreed to be released within 72 hours was N6 billion, not N11.9 billion. “Of this, N2.9 billion is for accoutrement allowance, N2.4 billion for consultants’ non-clinical duty allowance, and N400 million for COVID-19 arrears. Resident doctors’ share is about N500 million,” he explained.

Suleiman emphasized that the accoutrement allowance is not a new benefit but an old entitlement owed to all doctors. He accused the ministry of exaggerating payments to give the impression that the government had met all of NARD’s demands.

“Only about N500 million directly affects resident doctors,” he stated.

He also faulted the ministry’s claim that the dismissal of five doctors at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja, was under review, saying NARD was not informed about the process. “Those five doctors were union leaders targeted because of their activities. We only asked for their reinstatement, not a review or litigation,” he said.

Suleiman further questioned the ministry’s claim of recruiting 35,000 health workers in two years, demanding a transparent breakdown by category and posting.

He noted that the ministry’s press statement attempted to portray doctors as greedy, stressing that NARD’s grievances go beyond money. “We have 19 outstanding demands, many of which are administrative and require only internal action,” he said.

The NARD president, however, commended the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, for swiftly addressing financial issues raised by doctors but criticised the health ministry’s handling of the situation.

Suleiman appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene, urging him to direct the health ministry to engage sincerely with resident doctors and resolve lingering issues.