Resident Doctors Strike: Atiku Slams Tinubu Over ‘Betrayal’ of Agreements

• ‘Our Hospitals Are Collapsing,’ Former VP Alarms Amid 19-Month Arrears Debt • Warns of Tuesday Shutdown as Doctors Prepare to Abandon Wards Nationwide • Fumes Over Medical Brain Drain to UK, Saudi Arabia Under Current Administration

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has launched a scathing critique of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration, accusing it of “betrayal” following the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors’ (NARD) decision to embark on an indefinite nationwide strike.

In a strongly worded statement released on Sunday, Atiku expressed dismay that medical professionals are forced to “beg” the Federal Government to honor signed agreements, particularly regarding the Professional Allowance Table and the Medical Residency Training Fund.

Atiku, the 2023 presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), noted that the government’s failure to settle 19 months of unpaid professional allowance arrears is a direct affront to the sacrifice of healthcare workers.

“The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors should not have to beg for what has already been agreed upon,” Atiku stated. “The Federal Government signed a deal and now seeks to abandon it. This is not governance; it is betrayal.”

Highlighting the dire state of the nation’s healthcare infrastructure, the former Vice President warned that the strike, scheduled to begin on Tuesday, April 7, would leave 200 million Nigerians vulnerable as hospitals go “dark.”

He lamented the “bureaucratic limbo” stalling promotion arrears and training funds, suggesting that the government treats doctors as an “afterthought” while they work grueling hours in “impossible conditions.”

Addressing the mass exodus of Nigerian medics to Europe and the Middle East, Atiku placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of the current leadership.

“Every doctor Nigeria loses to the UK, Canada, or Saudi Arabia is a failure of leadership, not a failure of patriotism,” he remarked. “You cannot ask people to serve a nation that refuses to honor its own word.”

Atiku concluded by calling on the Tinubu administration to immediately “pay what you owe” and “honour what you signed” to prevent a total collapse of the medical sector this week.