Abuja, Nigeria: Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has assured that the grievances raised by striking resident doctors are being handled through proper administrative channels.
The minister stated this on Thursday during the inauguration of a road project in the FCT.
The doctors in the FCT, on Monday, embarked on an indefinite strike over six months of unpaid salaries, workforce shortages, and a backlog of critical allowances.
‘We lost our Head of Service; we just appointed an acting Head of Service. If the Permanent Secretary of the Treasury brings their bill now, why will I hold it? They will be paid.
“They should know that everything has a procedure,” he said
Wike admonished the Doctors against mixing politics with civil service demands, saying that, while their grievances would be considered, procedures must be followed.
The minister said he was aware of the threat by the Doctors that they might take their protest to the gates of the FCT Administration if urgent steps were not taken to address their grievances.
“The DSS called me, saying that people said they will demonstrate that we are paying attention to roads, we are not paying attention to health.
Demonstrations are allowed everywhere. Nobody will blackmail me, nobody will stop me from doing what I think is right,” he said
The minister pointed out that his administration has made unprecedented provisions for the health sector in the 2025 capital budget.
He said the health sector got a whopping N25 billion for capital projects in the 2025 budget.
He, therefore, dismissed the insinuation that other sectors were being neglected.
Wike used the occasion to decry what he described as a culture of blackmail in the country, comparing it with global standards.
The minister said that demonstrations and strikes are democratic rights, and he is not opposed to any of them.
He, however, said that the right things must be done and the due process must be followed in the interest of the territory.
