The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, has explained why medical and dental house officers cannot be placed under the federal civil service scheme, saying they are not regular government employees.
Mr Salako made the clarification at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday while addressing issues raised by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), whose members are currently on strike.
The association had faulted the exclusion of medical and dental house officers from the civil service structure, a policy it said denied them proper remuneration, professional recognition, and prompt payment of salaries.
However, Mr Salako said such inclusion would be impractical and could lead to administrative and financial complications.
“Medical and dental house officers are newly graduated doctors, either medical or dental, who are on a one-year internship,” he said.
“They are engaged temporarily for 12 months, not as regular staff. Therefore, it is not possible to classify them as civil servants. Would they, for example, be entitled to pension benefits? Certainly not.”
He noted that the internship programme is a mandatory, intensive training period after which participants proceed for national service or other professional pursuits.
“We cannot put house officers on the pension scheme because they are still in training. At the end of the 12 months, they are expected to move on, either to the National Youth Service Corps or to seek employment formally,” he added.
“Placing them on the civil service platform could result in continued salary payments even after they have exited, given the processes involved in delisting names from that platform.”
Mr Salako noted that internship opportunities were not limited to doctors alone but also extended to other categories of health professionals, including nurses, pharmacists, and physiotherapists.
Consultant cadre dispute
Addressing the controversy over the creation of a consultant cadre for non-medical doctors, Mr Salako said the policy was not introduced by the current administration.
“This was not initiated by this government; we inherited it. The only way forward is through mutual dialogue among the concerned professional groups, so that harmony can be restored across our health institutions,” he said.
He also spoke on the dismissal of five resident doctors from the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja.
He said a three-man review committee had been set up to reassess the disciplinary actions taken against them.
He stated that two of the affected doctors had appeared before a duly constituted disciplinary panel in accordance with public service rules, and their cases are now being reviewed by a three-member committee chaired by the hospital’s board chairman, with an external consultant and a representative from the Ministry’s Human Resources Department as members.
The remaining three dismissed doctors will be reabsorbed by the Ministry, provided they are willing to serve in other facilities outside the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja, for the time being.
Striking doctors to return to work
Mr Salako reaffirmed the government’s commitment to resolving the ongoing strike through dialogue and appealed to NARD members to return to work in good faith.
He explained that, contrary to some reports, the Ministry had not been idle but was addressing the issues one by one, with solutions or clear pathways already identified for several of them.
He appealed to the resident doctors to resume work while discussions under the Collective Bargaining Agreement continue, noting that one of the conditions of the agreement is the suspension of industrial action during negotiations, and urged NARD to honour this understanding.
He stressed that the government values the contributions of health workers and remains committed to improving their welfare.
“Mr President particularly values the service of doctors and other health professionals. If it were possible, we would pay them N50 million monthly because their work is invaluable,” he added.
The doctors’ union, which declared an indefinite strike on Saturday, listed 19 unresolved demands it said the government has failed to meet.
The demands include payment of arrears, salary shortfalls, promotion delays, irregularities with the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), and poor working conditions across federal hospitals.
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In FCT, the local chapter (ARD-FCTA) also declared a separate indefinite strike the same day, protesting unpaid salaries since 2023, delayed promotions, non-payment of the Medical Residency Training Fund, and other outstanding benefits.
NARD says doctors in several teaching hospitals are still owed between four and 18 months of salaries and allowances.
Hospitals maintain partial services
Also speaking, the Chief Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, and Vice Chairman of the Committee of Chief Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals, Yahaya Adamu, said consultants had been mobilised to sustain critical services despite the strike.
Mr Adamu stated that, according to reports received this morning, most federal tertiary hospitals continued operating their clinics, though not at full capacity.
He added that patients on admission, particularly critical cases, were still being attended to until discharge, and appealed to the public for understanding while urging those with emergencies to continue visiting the facilities, assuring that medical personnel remain available to provide care.
