‘Alex Otti Promised To Pay Us’ — Abia Doctors Suspend Indefinite Strike After Six Months

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Abia called a halt to their six-month-old strike on Friday.

Isaiah Abali, director of the Abia section of NMA, declared the suspension in a dispatch he together endorsed with Daniel Ekeleme, the affiliation’s secretary.

The state NMA left protesting on December 8, 2022, in challenging the lasting non-installment of their compensations.

The specialists in the dispatch said they chose to give beauty to the present status government to search for a method for settling the emergency.

“The present state government led by Dr Alex Otti, at different fora has promised to offset all salary arrears owed doctors in Abia by Dec. 31,” the communique reads.

“The promise to pay off these salaries was also emphasised by his special adviser on health in a meeting with NMA Abia state Executive on Friday, June 2.”

“The present governor in his inaugural speech through his special adviser on health, has appealed to doctors to suspend the strike and go back to work while giving him a benefit of the doubt to pay off these salaries as promised.”

Workers at the Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), the Hospitals Management Board (HMB), and the Ministry of Health, according to the chairman, owed 23, 16, and two months’ worth of salary arrears, respectively.

He went on to say that Okezie Ikpeazu’s previous administration did not make a commitment that was both reasonable and acceptable to pay the salaries.