Leadership of the National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, says its over three weeks old strike will continue despite the ruling of the National Industrial Court in Abuja ordering its members to suspend the action.
Reacting to the ruling by the NIC, the NARD leadership says it is not aware of any court order.
The NIC had on Monday ordered the NARD to suspend its ongoing strike.
Justice John Targema gave the order in an ex parte application by the Federal Government.
He ruled: “It is hereby ordered that claimant/applicant and the defendant/respondent suspend all forms of hostilities forthwith pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.”
Reacting to the court order in an interview NARD President, Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, said the association was unaware of the ruling and was not represented at the court.
Okhuaihesuyi said, “We didn’t get any court order from anywhere. We are just hearing it from news platforms. I am not aware of any court ruling ordering our members to suspend their strike.
“We have an office, why has the order not been brought to our secretariat? Why are we getting information about the said court order in the media?
“We have seen two different court orders, one that the request of the Federal Governmentovernment was granted and another that its request was refused. So, which one do we believe?
“So, I don’t know where the ruling is coming from. My lawyer is not aware of this. My members are not aware of any court ruling.
“We were not there. We were in court last week Monday but were told about the hearing on September 15. So, I don’t know where today’s ruling came from.”
Okhuaihesuyi said the strike continues until their demands are met by the government, stressing that his members would not act on court orders they are not aware of.
Okhuaihesuyi said”I have not been served any court papers. I read about the court order online the same way many read it online.
“When I am served the court’s papers, we will know what to do but until then, the strike continues.”
The resident doctors had commenced the strike on August 2 over irregular payment of salaries, brain drain, and other issues.
The House of Representatives convened a meeting between the doctors and the Federal Government but the parties failed to reach an agreement.
The Federal Government then instituted a suit against the doctors and asked the court for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the doctors from continuing with the industrial action.
But on Friday, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), directed both sides to resume negotiations.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, had on Saturday said the Federal Government had agreed to pay the N4.8bn residency training fund to the association, while also stating that there were plans to ensure that other demands of NARD, such as payment of arrears and payment of house officers, among others, were met.
Ngige had also said that the association would be required to sign a Memorandum of Action.
But the first Vice-President of NARD, Dr. Adejo Arome, had on Sunday said that the association could no longer trust the Federal Government.
Arome said the association no longer trusted the government to implement the agreements.
He said NARD leaders could not return to their members with promises, adding that none of the agreements earlier signed with the government had yielded positive results.
Arome stated, “The government has not met anything. Saying they have set aside any amount of money is just their usual saying.
“We cannot go back to our members with promises. We won’t sign anything again. In fact, there is nothing to sign.
“We have signed all forms of memorandum. None of the ones we have signed has brought any positive results.
“We have signed Memorandum of Understanding and Memorandum of Action, you name it.
“We don’t trust them. We appeal to the President to take over the negotiations himself because right now, he is the only one we can trust.”
However, Ngige ruled out further negotiations with the resident doctors, saying he would not negotiate with NARD.
He said it was the Nigerian Medical Association that spoke with the leadership of the striking resident doctors.
