Nigerian doctors have threatened to withdraw their services across health institutions in the country if the federal government fails to implement the upward review of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS).

CONMESS is the salary structure for medical and dental officers in the federal public service.

Medical doctors and other health workers have downed tools many times in the past over the failure of the government to review and implement the salary structure.

Industrial action

The doctors, under the umbrella of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), said the government must implement the salary review before 31 January, or risk industrial action in the health sector.

The President of NMA, Uche Ojinmah, issued the ultimatum at a press briefing after the association’s NEC meeting in Abuja on Sunday.

Mr Ojinmah said the association cannot guarantee industrial harmony after the ultimatum if the government fails to meet its demands.

He also appealed to the government to implement the newly approved accruement allowance with arrears from June 2022.

According to him, the association does not have a direction about when all the allowances would be implemented despite its approval on 1 June, 2023.

Delayed implementation

Mr Ojinmah said the implementation of the upward review of CONMESS was meant to take effect from January 2023 but the government has delayed it for almost a year.

He said, although the association is grateful that the government had taken a step regarding one of its agreements, it awaits full implementation of the agreements.

“For now, while we are grateful, they have started doing the right thing, we look forward to them doing it completely, agreement should be agreement as we had with the last administration,” he said.

Culled from Premium Times Nigeria