Justice Emmanuel Subilim of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Abuja, has issued an order restraining the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and its members from embarking on the strike scheduled to commence on January 12.
Justice Subilim made the order on Friday while ruling on a motion ex parte filed by the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).
The ruling followed submissions by the Director of Civil Litigation at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Maimuna Lami Shiru, who led a team of ministry lawyers in moving the motion.
Listed as respondents to the motion and defendants in the substantive suit are NARD, its National President, Dr. Mohammad Suleman, and the association’s Secretary General, Dr. Shuaibu Ibrahim.
On January 3, NARD announced plans to resume its Total, Indefinite and Complete Strike (TICS 2.0) from January 12, citing the Federal Government’s failure to implement agreements reached with the association.
In a statement issued by its president, Dr. Mohammad Suleiman, the association said the decision was taken at an Emergency National Executive Council (E-NEC) meeting held on January 2.
The association said the planned strike was an inevitable consequence of the Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Government’s failure to meet multiple deadlines for implementing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with resident doctors.
As part of preparations for the renewed action, the NEC directed presidents of all 91 NARD centres nationwide to hold congress meetings and subsequently address the media.
