Fred Itua, Abuja
The FCT Administration has issued a 24-hour ultimatum to striking resident doctors to resume work or face mass sack from the system.
Making this assertion on Thursday, FCT Minister of State Dr Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu said the ultimatum was part of necessary measures reached after an emergency meeting of top management officials of the FCTA to ensure citizens do not suffer as a result of the strike action by the resident doctors.
Aliyu, briefing reporters on the development, said the FCT Administration has noted with dismay the continued strike embarked upon by the FCT Chapter of Association of Resident Doctors over irregularities in their salaries for the month of January and February.
In her words: “Despite entreaties that the problem was not peculiar to the Doctors, but affecting all staff of the FCTA; and efforts made by the office of the FCT Minister of State, with the accountant general of the federation, and an appeal to call off the strike, the Doctors are yet to resume work.
“In the meantime, the Administration has given the striking Doctors 24 hours to resume work, after which they should consider themselves as having exited the FCT Administration.”
The minister expressed the appreciation of the FCT Administration for the commitment and dedication to duty of the medical and dental association of Nigeria, nurses and midwives, medical laboratory technologists, pharmacists and all other medical and health workers who have remained true to their calling by putting social duty above self.