The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, on Thursday, met with the relevant government officials with a view to averting the resumption of the strike by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).

At the meeting, issues such as non-payment of house officers, abolishment of bench fees, non-payment of national minimum wage, salary shortfall for 2014, 2015, and 2016, residency training allowance, and payment of resident doctors on GIFMIS platform were discussed.

Present at the meeting were top officials from the ministries of finance, health, labour, and employment as well as the Director-General of the Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, officials from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Committee of Chief Medical Directors (CMDs), among others.

The DG, Budget Office, Akabueze, informed the Speaker that action was being taken on the issues at stake and that a recommendation was submitted to the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, for approval after which payment would be made.