The medics had embarked on an industrial action on June 15,2020 at the expiration of their 14-day ultimatum to the President Muhammadu Buhari administration where they had tabled a six-point demand.

Addressing a media briefing in Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, alongside his Health and Labour and Productivity counterparts, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, and Dr. Chris Ngige, said government was concerned about the timing of the strike when all hands were on deck to defeat the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic.

Mohammed, who read a prepared speech, listed the proposals of the doctors to include access to personal protective equipment (PPE) by all health workers, immediate reversal of the disengagement of 26 medics at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), and the instant implementation of the COVID-19 special hazard inducement allowance.

Others are capturing of funding for medical residency training in the 2021 appropriation bill as well as payment of arrears of the consequential adjustments to the national minimum wage to members and execution of same in-state tertiary health institutions.

The doctors had also requested state governments that slashed their salaries by as much as 25 per cent to halt the exercise and refund the balance.