Only N500m of FG’s N11.9bn Payment Reaches Resident Doctors, Says NARD

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) challenges the Federal Government’s claim that it is releasing N11.9 billion to settle arrears and allowances, insisting that only about N500 million will reach resident doctors.

Dr. Muhammad Suleiman, NARD President, tells journalists that the announced figure misrepresents the reality of payments.

He says the 25–35 per cent arrears and accoutrement allowance belong to all health workers, not just doctors.

“The 25–35 per cent arrears cover every cadre in the health sector, including administrative staff. The total bill should be N48 billion, but the government says N41 billion.

So far, the government releases N10 billion in August, another N10 billion two weeks later, and N21.3 billion last week. Out of this, about N11 billion goes to all doctors, with resident doctors receiving less than N10 billion,” Suleiman explains.

He adds that only N2.9 billion is designated for accoutrement allowances for all doctors, of which N500 million is for resident doctors.

The remainder covers consultants’ non-clinical duty allowance and COVID-19 arrears for other health workers.

“The total is about N6 billion, not N11.9 billion,” he stressed.

Suleiman accused the Ministry of Health of exaggerating the payments to make it appear that NARD’s demands are fully met.

“The ministry tries to make doctors look ungrateful, but only a small portion benefits resident doctors directly,” he says.

On the issue of five dismissed doctors at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja, Suleiman says NARD did not participate in the review process.

He describes the terminations as targeting union leaders and notes, “We only request their reinstatement. Even the ministry admits some were terminated without due process.”

Suleiman also questions claims that the government recruited 35,000 health workers over the past two years. He calls for clarity on how many of them are doctors, nurses, or other staff, and where they are deployed.

While he commends Minister of Finance Wale Edun for quickly handling the financial component of the doctors’ grievances, Suleiman says the Ministry of Health shows little willingness to resolve pending issues.

He appeals to President Bola Tinubu to intervene, urging the ministry to engage NARD genuinely and address administrative and financial concerns, many of which he says could be resolved with a single memo.