Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has raised alarm over a potential nationwide healthcare shutdown, backing the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and accusing the Federal Government of failing to honour agreements reached with the medical body.
Atiku said on Sunday in a statement on X that it was unacceptable for resident doctors to beg for entitlements that had already been agreed upon, particularly the Professional Allowance Table signed by the government.
“The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors should not have to beg for what has already been agreed upon. The Federal Government signed a deal on the Professional Allowance Table, and now it wants to abandon it. This is not governance; it is betrayal,” he said.
The former presidential candidate described resident doctors as the backbone of Nigeria’s fragile healthcare system, warning that continued neglect could trigger a full-scale collapse of public hospitals.
“Our resident doctors are the last line of defence in hospitals that are already collapsing. They work gruelling hours, in impossible conditions, for pay that insults their sacrifice. And now, the government seeks to take away the little that was promised?” he stated.
Atiku outlined several unresolved issues fueling tensions between NARD and the Federal Government, including 19 months of unpaid Professional Allowance arrears, outstanding promotion arrears, and delays in disbursing the Medical Residency Training Fund.
According to him, the failure to address these concerns reflects a broader pattern of disregard for healthcare workers, even as many continue to leave the country in search of better opportunities abroad.
“The Tinubu administration must demonstrate commitment to these issues: 19 months of unpaid Professional Allowance arrears; promotion arrears gathering dust; a Medical Residency Training Fund stuck in bureaucratic limbo; and a government that treats its doctors as an afterthought and remains unconcerned as they flee the country in droves,” he said.
He further linked the ongoing brain drain in the health sector to what he described as leadership failure, insisting that the mass migration of doctors should not be blamed on lack of patriotism.
“Every doctor Nigeria loses to the UK, Canada, or Saudi Arabia is a failure of leadership, not a failure of patriotism. You cannot ask people to serve a nation that refuses to honour its own word,” Atiku added.
The former vice president reiterated his support for NARD and called on the Federal Government to urgently meet its obligations to avert disruption in healthcare services that could endanger millions of Nigerians.
“I stand with NARD. Pay what you owe. Honour what you signed. Or explain to over 200 million Nigerians why their hospitals will go dark on Tuesday,” he said.
